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On World Youth Skills Day, the UN has argued a changing job market calls for a new educational approach.
The world looks very different from a decade ago, when I was taking my A-Levels. Now young people are leaving school to a largely thankless job market, ill-equipped to accommodate the skills learnt through traditional education.
Technological development, the rise of AI, and a professional landscape transformed by remote working have left gen z and gen alpha to navigate a world that has very little space for them – despite more and more young people heading to university.
As a result, the UN have argued that education should shift away from technical skills alone, and instead balance its focus to address more vocational training.
The theme of this year’s World Youth Skills Day – started by the UN in 2014 – is ‘Skills for a Shared Future’, and reflects on the importance of empathy, understanding, and building a sustainable and inclusive world.
Unesco states on their website that this theme focuses on activities that ‘develop innovative youth skills programmes’ and ‘prepare young people to successfully participate in societies and economies, where they can lead in empathy, communicate across culture, build resilience and contribute to a better future.’
Any recent university graduate will probably tell you that today’s job market requires more than a healthy CV. Even the most prestigious institutions and degrees aren’t enough to compete in most industries – particularly tech, where rapid development and constant restructuring are leaving even the most experienced workers vulnerable.
‘Skills for a Shared Future’ suggests that the ability to navigate this increasingly complex world is far more valuable than what’s listed on your resume, and that this is only achieved through confidence, curiosity, and resilience. But it’s also incredibly difficult to quantify these skills, let alone teach them in our modern education system.
A new survey in Europe has also found strong support for vocational education and training VET) across the continent.
85% of those surveyed said VET gives useful technical skills for work, 82% said it leads to actually job opportunities, and 66% said it leads to well-paid jobs.
Others argued VET provided broader routes into higher education, with opportunities to study abroad as an added benefit.
