Don’t Let Schooling Get In The Way Of Your Child’s Education

Did you know that you are taking your kids to school to prepare for jobs that don’t exist anymore?

This is the sad reality that parents have to come into terms with; schools are setting your children up for failure, and so are you! Most of what your kids are being taught in school will be obsolete by the time they clear college. We need to start preparing them for the jobs of the future!

A recent study established that within the next 20 years, 47% of today’s jobs will be no longer exist! Moreover, according to the World Economic Forum, 65% of children setting foot in Kindergartens today will end up in jobs that are yet to suffice.

Certainly, the Jobs of the future will be different from what we know today. Need proof? The trends tell it all. Software coding is growing less relevant, now everything is drag and drop, and voilà! You have your own digital system.

Related: Are We Babying Our Kids To Death? Teen Suicide

Also read: How To Make Money On Social Media

Consider any automation you’ve seen as just a warm-up. Since the automation stone has been set rolling, it can only pick up the pace. Soon, the best of the traditional careers will be ‘en route’ to the dustbin of history.

We have to help our children prepare for this imminent reality because the best jobs of the future will be held by those who start preparing now. Guess what; the greatest impendent to preparing for the uncertain future is the current education system!

The Problem With Our Education System.

The current education system comes with a fairy tale promise. Go to school, work hard, graduate, get a good job/wife/husband/kids, and live happily ever after. We have clang on this fairy tale for so long that we might have missed the memo that it no longer works.

Our education system traces its roots back to the industrial revolution; an era that was marked with the end of the slave trade and the rise of mechanics and industrialization.

During this time, there was a huge demand for workers to replace the slave labor or rather work in the industries for wages. The educations system focused on teaching how to manipulate numbers and to retain information because these skills were critical then.

Fast forward to the modern world; we carry supercomputers in our pockets. Now, doing math’s and recalling things is highly automated. A quick Google search can give you more than what is covered in a college syllabus.

Why then to date do we insist on sticking to a system that only tests the ability to manipulate numbers and or to recall ambiguous things that can be accessed by just a click of a button.

So, How Do We Prepare Our Kids For The Jobs Of The Future?

If this is not a wakeup call about the fact that we need to rethink our approach to education, I wonder what will. So how do we help our kids prepare for a future we can’t predict?

Teach them how to adapt

Our education system needs to shift from a purely academic approach to incorporate for self-directed learning. This helps create opportunities for problem-solving and creativity – skills that adapt to changing times.

Emphasize on understanding patterns and not the manipulation of numbers!

Arithmetic skills are now more critical than ever, given that we live in a digital age. With math computations and manipulations now being automated, how about we focus on drawing meaning from data because this is what makes it useful.

Data analytics is increasingly growing in demand with big data getting bigger each day. Future jobs will need people with skills to draw meaning from this data.

The shift from knowing things to focus on exploring ideas

I guess we have all guilty of this; crammed an entire volume ahead of exams only to forget everything before we even leave the exam room. Knowledge is a moving target, and so should be learning.

Instead of cramming words, we need to encourage the learners to explore and to be creative. Exploration and creativity are synonymous with the ability to adapt to changing career landscape.

Teach life and soft skills

As the traditional jobs get decimated through automation, new job opportunities will arise for those who will adapt. One thing that computers cannot replace is the human element to empathize.

Fortune 500 companies such as Amazon, Toptal, Google, etc., are currently looking beyond technical skills when hiring. The candidates also need to portray exceptional communication skills, leadership skills, teamwork, initiative, among others.

Besides this, future jobs will demand soft skills such as critical thinking, creativity, clear and compelling writing, and learning how to learn.

While at it, you should probably read The Ultimate Secret To Writing A Winning Professional Resume!