K-12 institutions are now concentrating on skill development and knowledge acquisition for overcoming VUCA situations and on becoming entrepreneurs, write authors
The K-12 education
Throughout the session, K-12 institutions have been following a set pattern of functioning. Regular courses have been pursued and defined within timetable, formative and summative assessments, followed by conventional teaching assistant in classrooms. But mostly, it lacks the student-centric approach. Student preferences and dislikes have never been acknowledged, and the emphasis has been confined to academics to complete the syllabus. Understanding ideas and its execution within the premise of the real-world has neither been considered nor explored. The need to reinvent the education system at the K-12 level assisted with sophisticated teaching pedagogies has long been pending.
Unfortunately, K-12 institutions and the much-needed entrepreneurship education share no wavelength. Students seem not to have been exposed to the prevailing VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, and Ambiguous) situations in the real world. K-12 institutions have been teaching the next generation without any clear intention as to how the economy and society shall be benefitted in the longer run. K-12 institutions have little or no insight into the development of entrepreneurial skillsets, nor do they propose any kind of incentives for students to explore various option to launch their own businesses. Digitalisation brought in disruption, necessitating the urgency to advance industry centric and industry ready curriculum. But as said earlier, K-12 schools have continued to complete the ageing syllabus with no contemporariness to complete the changing velocity of time. Future employability has been a big question and thus, posing a major challenge for the exiting education structure. There was no thought of jobs in newer areas like artificial intelligence, machine learning, IoT, Robotics etc. that required upskilling.
K-12 institution Post Covid-19
COVID-19 came as a massive surprise. It was an unexpected-unknown event. It resulted in a significant shift in the education sector, especially at the K-12 institution level. As per our research, several K12 institutions (Institution chain) have since been allocating time and resources to enhance the level of education, keeping the child’s holistic development and future employability perspective in mind. Several K-12 institutions believe that emphasizing practical learning would be a better proposition for preparing children for the future. This would be considered not only as a good citizen with a purpose, but also from an economic utility perspective. As a result, the notion of skill development has been introduced at the K-12 institution level. Since K-12 institutions have recognized the impact of VUCA during the pandemic, equal emphasis has been placed on skill development at the K-12 level. With this student assimilate have been exposed to the concept and VUCA scenario. This may not be as an acronym education but the real and implied meaning of VUCA, considered generically as an uncertain future. We must understand that the entrepreneurship education begins at the secondary level, with K-12 educational institutions establishing clubs to impart it at various stages, where in the students develop business concepts while receiving guidance at the secondary level. Entrepreneurship education is a new layer in the Indian education environment, and it is fast catching up as an Institutional need.
K-12 institutions are now concentrating on skill development and knowledge acquisition for overcoming VUCA situations and on becoming entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurial education is being promoted for preparing future leaders. The making of the future is in discussions in the present context and this good fever needs to accelerate. India has lost considerable time on implementing contemporary based learning, the time to act fast is the only mantra.
Future of K-12 education
The digital revolution is the major disruptor, as mentioned earlier. As a platform knowledge is widely and freely available, unless premium or classified. K-12 educational institutions need to place a higher priority on children’s learning by stimulating the ability to climb, grasp, and widen the vision for launching their careers. Entrepreneurship is a good option.
Technology platforms have provided affiliate services to users, allowing them to advertise and grow. The need for a creative business start-up is stronger than ever post pandemic. Let us consider the act of entrepreneurial initiative for education. By delivering the course online, schools may provide customized courses that can enhance the necessary entrepreneurial abilities at a reasonable cost. Future educators will also require continuous upgrade for keeping up with the dynamic student demands. Thus, the K-12 education needs to place a stronger emphasis on skill development and future readiness. The digital classroom of the near future will be AI (Artificial Intelligence) based.
EntrepreneursConclusion hip education will be the guiding force for the entire education systems, from K-12 to higher education, skill development will be parallel to professional, societal, and life skill education. In today’s world, entrepreneurship education has been contributing to innovation and enhancing quality. Currently, K-12 education has stretched its boundaries post pandemic and attempting on imparting entrepreneurship education while preparing students to convert VUCA’s, Volatility into ‘Vision’, Uncertainty into ‘Understanding’, Complexity into ‘Clarity’ and Ambiguity into ‘Agility’. The future of the country is going to be in the hands of the students. The holistic development through K-12 education system is the only way to prepare young children to face and respond to the VUCA world.
