Preparing for your dream career? The time to invest in skills is NOW!

The distance between dream career and skills can now be bridged at an early stage. For young students there is now an opportunity to learn at their pace from industry experts and leaders with iDX education. 

The 2019/2020 Global Skills Gap Report by Udemy shows that the majority (92 percent) of employees in India agree that there is a skills gap in the country and two-thirds (76 percent) of them feel personally affected by it. Many either don’t get their dream job or are not able to rise in their career because they lack the necessary skills. 

Here’s why the skill gap is more alarming than ever before:

The gaps in education 

The truth is that the academic curriculum lacks industry exposure and focuses a lot on theoretical knowledge. This gap leads to more challenges for young individuals when they go out there in the job market. Even the New Education Policy 2020 acknowledged these gaps in the current system and has proposed to make it more practical. However, when will it be implemented and when will its impact be visible is hard to tell at the present. 

To build a better future, young students have to go beyond their textbooks and learn critical skills outside the curriculum as well. This means additional investment of time and efforts. There are a plethora of platforms available online to help students. For instance, iDX.education, an initiative by us at iDreamCareer.com (iDC) to get students the relevant industry experience, exposure to practical assignments, and opportunity to learn from the experts in the space. 

The uncertain future

The pandemic has further disrupted business models, and jobs and the world of work now evolves more rapidly than ever before. Given these rapid developments, it is hard to predict the future and what skills will be relevant. The lack of ability to find your aspirational job leads to anxiety, you are either stuck in a job you don’t like, or you are left unemployed. It is not that you don’t have the potential. You are full of possibilities. All you need to do is identify the relevant skills and invest in building them. 

But the good news is that there are some skills and competencies that shall remain to be relevant and critical across sectors and functions. 

For young individuals who are yet to get into the job market, this is the best time to invest in skill building and get a headstart at an early stage. iDX education, the microlearning platform focuses on skills like problem solving, design thinking, effective communication, entrepreneurship, and financial literacy, among others. 

The fierce competition 

India claims to have a young demographic. There is a plenty of talent out there that if given the right opportunities and platforms can create a better present and tomorrow for themselves and the country. But the lack of skill gap holds back both the people and the country to live up to its full potential. The unemployment rates continue to be on the rise and the employers complain about the lack of job-readiness among youngsters. 

But this job-readiness gap can be bridged if the students, their parents, and even educators take the baton and invest in skill development from an early stage. Further if industry specialists and experts join the endeavor and help curate more relevant learning solutions for youngsters, the problem can further be solved. For example, at iDX, the microlearning courses are led by industry leaders like angel investor Rishab Malik, economist Kumar Anand, UX Consultant Kanika Kohli, and journalist turned entrepreneur Shweta Khanna Bhandral, among others. 

Man vs Machine

In the report by Udemy, the majority of the respondents feared that automation may replace their jobs. 82 percent agree that automation and artificial intelligence (AI) are taking away job roles. The threat of rapid digitization has been there for a while now and now as the pandemic accelerates the use of tech, it further increases. But most of the reports have repeatedly emphasized that it is only the mundane and repetitive tasks that are most likely to be automated. Other strategic and human skills like problem solving, entrepreneurship, consulting, and effective communication will, on the contrary, be even more relevant. 

Hence, iDX education focuses on building the more relevant skills for the now and the future of work, which are required to excel in life, irrespective of the education background and degrees.

“The illiterate of the 21st Century are not those who cannot read and write but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn.”

― Alvin Toffler

So kickstart your learning journey NOW. 

Distinguishing Features of the New Education Policy 2020

For several years now, the education system of India was questioned for its effectiveness.

Both the government and its people have been well aware that the global education

development agenda requires to rethink, restrategize, and redesign the entire education

system. Further with the rapidly changing employment landscape and global ecosystem, it is

becoming critical to assess what the young minds learn and how they learn. To solve these

challenges and reconfigure the education system, on 29th July, the government introduced

the New Education Policy 2020 (NEP).

Let’s take a look at some of its key features:

The 5+3+3+4 design: The 10+2 structure gets replaced by the 5+3+3+4 model. As per

NEP, the curricular and pedagogical structure of school education will be reconfigured to

make it responsive and relevant to the developmental needs and interests of learners at

different stages, corresponding to the age ranges of 3-8, 8-11, 11-14, and 14-18 years,

respectively.

Choice Based Credit System: The young minds may get a break from traditional career

paths. The NEP proposes that students will be given increased flexibility and choice of

subjects to study, particularly in secondary school - including subjects in physical education,

the arts and crafts, and vocational skills– so that they can design their own paths of study

and life plans.

Development of the creative potential: NEP aims to move away from the culture of rote

learning as is largely present today. The policy states that curriculum content will be reduced

in each subject to its core essentials, to make space for critical thinking and more holistic,

inquiry-based, discovery-based, discussion-based, and analysis based learning. Experiential

learning at all stages will also be introduced, along with art and sports integration.

Multilingualism: The NEP proposes, wherever possible, the medium of instruction until at

least Grade 5, but preferably till Grade 8 and beyond, will be the home language/mother

tongue/local language/regional language. Multilingualism and disseminating learning

concepts, especially at the foundational stage, may help bridge the gaps that exist between

the language spoken by the child and the medium of teaching.

Focus on essential skills: In recent times the need for behavioral competencies like

resilience, agility, innovation, and adaptability and the demand for digital literacy has

increased. NEP has hence proposed to enhance the scope of learning beyond subject-

matters and made learning these skills essential. These skills include scientific temper and

evidence-based thinking; creativity and innovativeness; sense of aesthetics and art; and also

vocational exposure and skills; digital literacy, coding, and computational thinking, among

others.