Thursday, 19 March 2015 00:09
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By Dr. Mahesha Kapurubandara
The question of suitable employment for qualified graduates passing out of universities each year has always been a concern. Sri Lanka, like many other countries in the region has a problem finding jobs for its newly-qualified graduates.
According to research, even though the country can boast of successfully bringing down the overall unemployment rate to 4.4% last year, the unemployed rate of the educated is a disturbing 10.2%. The numbers are even more disconcerting as the unemployment rate of the overall youth (15-29 years), is 26.5% for the same period.
Although in Sri Lanka there are large numbers of unemployed graduates, the private sector employers complain eternally that there is a lack of skilled personnel. Various governments, at various times, have attempted to solve the problem. Yet, the problem persists. It is, indeed a sad situation where parents and children make huge sacrifices towards a university education, to end up in a blind alley.
Employers, across the globe, wish to recruit none other than highly qualified and skilled graduates or a workforce. It is also the wish of parents to see their children graduate successfully to fit in to a competitive work environment and earn a decent good living while being happy.
Educators, especially the universities, share the responsibility for good teaching towards necessary skills for aspiring graduates. However, the question of employability for our graduates cannot be handled by employers, educators or parents alone.
One approach to the problem could be consultations with industry or big business. Educators need to communicate with employers to determine industry expectations. Employers need to communicate regarding the specialised skills required and be willing to assist educators with the teaching if necessary.
On the other hand, educators need to consult the professional community across all industries towards required specialised skills. Parents too, need to understand and appreciate the skills employers look for, beyond academic and technical expertise.
It is time we moved away from tradition with a focus on a child’s capability to face an examination and receive an A grade. The time is ripe for us to make our students realise the need to think critically beyond the classroom, to solve likely problems as and when they arise, with the offer of more than one solution.
Students also need to be directed towards collaboration and to lead by influence. Our graduates need to be assured they are agile and adaptable towards success in a fast changing with innovations and entrepreneurial capabilities. They should also be able to present ideas clearly enough to convince a customer or an investor.
Young graduates also need to be alert and appreciate others’ ideas and recognise the value of different perspectives. It is no easy task to assure our students an education that teaches them these skills, but the opportunities to collaborate are endless.
With these observations, a 21st century learning experience, with evolving technologies comes to mind. However, keeping pace with evolving technologies, deciding on the best learning experience also becomes a task.
The teaching alone could be quite confusing to students used to a typical classroom or a lecture hall. Yet, they now enjoy the benefits of an online learning experience where they can work independently at their own pace. Nevertheless, the technology driven, information-age with innovation-based business environments could spell disaster for graduates entering the world of work in a large corporation upon graduation. They need to be equipped with the necessary skills to handle the technology in place. The rapidly changing economy too would take its toll. What do employers look for, today? They look for much more than what the universities have imparted. They look for extra skills sets and need professionals on their team capable of problem solving, in particular.
Solving problems requires many skills that are “neither taught nor tested even in universities”, as Tony Wagner states in his best seller, The Global Achievement Gap. These skills comprise critical thinking, collaboration across networks, leading by influence, agility and adaptability, effective oral and written business communication, the ability to access and analyse information and curiosity and imagination. Can students generally learn these vital skills in traditional classrooms? If not, it is necessary to expand the learning experience within and beyond the classrooms or lecture halls. Project-based and problem-based learning need to be included. To meet the objective, educators and parents, in collaboration with business must attempt to create learning experiences that challenge young learners to solve problems creatively while collaborating with others.
Students also need to be curious and find information that will help them. Above all, they must be alert to the reality there are more right answers in the real world. They need to be equipped with the capacity to decide on the best from a host of likely suitable solutions and decide on the best to suit the particular context. Employers will show no hesitation to recognise such skill.
Therefore, it is abundantly clear that what was a great education years ago, does not fit in with today’s society where 21st century skills are vital towards success, not only of our children, but also a nation’s economy. We are aware of the gap between knowledge and skills students acquire in schools and the knowledge and skills in demand today in places of work.
“There is a profound gap between the knowledge and skills most students learn in school and the knowledge and skills they need in typical 21st century communities and workplaces,” states the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, a national organisation comprised of both business (Apple, Intel, Adobe, HP) and education (National Education Association, Pearson, Scholastic) leaders.
The foundation for education may well be with the 3Rs, reading, writing and arithmetic. But a necessity has arisen for 4Cs. The 4Cs relate to communication or the verbal and written ability to share thoughts, ideas, questions and solutions, Collaboration – the ability to achieve goals by working with others and recognising each person’s ability to contribute, Critical Thinking & Problem Solving or the ability to link academics, experience and research to look at problems from different perspectives and create a wide variety of solutions and most importantly, Creativity & Innovation – the ability to use a wide range of brainstorming and ideation tools to create new ideas and to act on those ideas to make real contributions. Our children, today, need the 4Cs most, to be successful in the globalised world.
The 4Cs have come to be accepted in many parts of the world. If the 4Cs are the requirements, how do we teach creativity, critical thinking, communication and collaboration? Most school systems consider measurable outcomes (usually test scores). In such a background, how do we make the 4Cs a priority?
It is time we looked for changes to our patterns of education. It is time we accepted the harsh reality that exists in the developed world and take meaningful steps to either be there or fall behind. If we hesitate, the problem of graduate unemployment is bound to haunt us for as long as we live.
(The writer is Dean of SLIIT.)
