The Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), underpinned by technology, is undeniably having a transformative impact on the economy, industry and society as a whole. Emerging new technologies such as artificial intelligence, intelligent robots, big data, quantum computing, genetic editing and virtual reality have blurred the lines between the physical, digital and biological aspects of life. It is changing everything from the way we live, work, communicate and inevitably what it means to be human.
The evidence of dramatic change is all around us and it’s happening at an exponential speed. But what is more apparent is that the interwoven of technology into every aspect of our lives has become a norm. Thanks to social media platforms and apps; we now have the ability to connect with others easily and faster, and with wider choices on how to communicate. Innovations brought about the 4IR have the potential to not only create a true global village by bringing billions more people into the global economy, but also give more people opportunities to learn.
A REPORT FROM THE WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM (2016) ON THE FUTURE OF WORK STATES THAT, “65% OF CHILDREN ENTERING PRI- MARY SCHOOL TODAY WILL ULTIMATELY END UP WORKING IN COMPLETELY NEW JOB TYPES THAT DON’T YET EXIST.”
With technology rapidly changing our economic, cultural and social realities, the question of how to prepare the younger generation and re-educate the current generation for these changing realities has been a pressing issue for contemporary higher education. Raising concerns over automation replacing jobs are rife. A report from the World Economic Forum (2016) on the future of work states that, “65% of children entering primary school today will ultimately end up working in completely new job types that don’t yet exist.”
How do we educate for the fourth industrial revolution? What are the implications for learners and educators? How do we redefine career readiness and better prepare students for an uncertain future? Are our education systems and programmes relevant to the fourth industrial revolution? And if not, how do we reconstruct our education systems so that they are?
A recent report by The Economist: Intelligence Unit on “The Automation Readiness Index: Who is ready for the coming wave of automation?’ pointed out that very few countries have begun to address the impact of automation through educational policy. According to the report, “…in all but the highest-scoring countries, little has been done to prepare future workers through school curricula or, just as importantly, teacher training. At the same time, some experts warn that a focus on soft skills would be a distraction in countries where basic education is still not up to scratch.”
Interestingly, the World Economic Report on the Future of Jobs revealed that CEOs placed a high value on creativity-based skills such critical thinking and collaboration above STEM and digital skills. This implies that with technological advancements, there is an increasingly need for human to demonstrate skills that robots do not have.
But is our current education system preparing young people for the 4IR? In reality, most schools and universities are teaching 20th-century education to young people who need 21st-century skills. But just as important what skills learners will need to navigate through disruptive technologies, is what skills will educators need and how their role will change.
ISFIRE ASKED PROFESSIONALS IF THEY THINK THE CURRENT EDUCATION SYSTEM IS KEEPING UP WITH THE 4TH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION. HERE IS WHAT THEY HAD TO SAY.
DR MOHAMED ASHRAF IQBAL
FOUNDER & CEO, MINDSPRING
The issue of readiness for Industry 4.0 or I4 is being keenly discussed and the role education and its method of delivery is seen as a critical component in helping society transition into I. The current form of education was in response to the creative destruction brought about when the world transitioned from the first industrial revolution (mechanisation powered by water & steam) to the second industrial revolution(mass production powered by electricity), which required standardisation of knowledge (reading, writing, arithmetic) in order of people to ready to work in mass-assembly type operations. The efficacy of the education system was validated through rising employment, wages and ultimately overall standards of living both in the developed and developing world with Malaysia being a huge benefactor.
The third industrial revolution (computers and automation) rolled through almost as a natural extension, a creative improvement rather than destruction, of the second industrial revolution and as such the adjustments required on education was marginal focusing on the updating of and introduction of new subjects into the curriculum (eg: learning computer programming and how to use computer-aided design software). I4 on the other hand is not as an extension of I3 but instead is already pushing the word into a new cycle of creative destruction, the signs of which can already be seen. We are now into the second decade of wage stagnation, jobs are being atomised and the gig economy is becoming mainstream.
The question at hand, therefore, is, how ready is the education system to prepare society for (a) the new types of skills that will be demanded by the economy and also (b) to help the millions of workers who will be made redundant as a result of the replacement of humans buy computers, algorithms and robots.
Just as was seen at the start of the second industrial revolution, the response to I cannot be a tweak or an extension of the current education system. It will require a complete reexamination and the creative destruction of the current mode of education that was designed to supply the industrial world with factory-ready employees. Contrary to this, the education system under I4 will need to deliver to the knowledge economy “digitally minded, problem solvers.
H.E. JACOB AL ABDULLAH
FOUNDER AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, CONSUL
Innovative opportunities presented by the Fourth Industrial Revolution (Industry 4.0) are often centred upon the convergence of digital, physical, and biological systems. Education amidst these advancements has often been regarded as a challenge. However, Industry 4.0 also offers many new opportunities for learning that have not previously been available.
Through digitization we now have the opportunity to access the collective intelligence of billions of individuals instantaneously, putting that knowledge to work in regards to the many social, economic, and political challenges we face globally. New ways of educating and learning also allow us to develop human-centric capacities such as creativity, logical deliberation, and problem sensitivity; which are necessary in order to thrive with these profound changes upon us. In addition, new open digital platforms are expanding global access to education at an exponential rate, and they are also enabling much-needed experiential learning opportunities. I fully expect advances in augmented and virtual reality will improve experiential learning as well. Industry 4.0 presents many challenges in regards to future skills and capacity development, but it also presents us with numerous solutions that far exceed the challenge.
HARTINAH ANNUAR
DIRECTOR, CURRICULUM AND ASSESSMENT, CORPORATE TEACHING & LEARNING, INTI INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY & COLLEGES
Taking Education 4.0 as the ideal response to the needs of Industry 4.0, where education can fully benefit from connectivity via digital technology, sharing of content and the ubiquity of personalized data; when learning is democratised – not bound by time and space, personalised and collaborative, focus on real-world skills, and most importantly, ownership of learning lies with the students where their input is key in the design of curricula and learning pathways; then the current state of education, to a certain extent, is somehow keeping up with Industry 4.0 but not for long. This is because the much-needed shift from the current model of education of mass production to mass personalization of curricula, content and learning experience is not happening fast enough.
The speed of innovation that comes with Industry 4.0 is unprecedented; like none other seen nor experienced before. Hence, policymakers and educators alike, must come to fully accept that the process and ways of learning must change since the future of learning is driven by connectivity and collaboration. Policymakers and educators must walk the talk in order to keep pace with Industry 4.0 – they need to start connecting and collaborating.
IBRAHIM SANI
CHIEF HUMAN RESOURCE OFFICER, DEPARTMENT OF PETROLEUM RESOURCES, NIGERIA
However, Industry 4.0 also offers many new opportunities for learning that have not previously been available.
Through digitization we now have the opportunity to access the collective intelligence of billions of individuals instantaneously, putting that knowledge to work in regards to the many social, economic, and political challenges we face globally. New ways of educating and learning also allow us to develop human-centric capacities such as creativity, logical deliberation, and problem sensitivity; which are necessary in order to thrive with these profound changes upon us. In addition, new open digital platforms are expanding global access to education at an exponential rate, and they are also enabling much-needed experiential learning opportunities. I fully expect advances in augmented and virtual reality will improve experiential learning as well. Industry 4.0 presents many challenges in regards to future skills and capacity development, but it also presents us with numerous solutions that far exceed the challenge.
DR MERVAT BAMIAH
ADVISORY COUNCIL MEMBER, SKY COMPUTING PVT. LTD.
We are in the era of human and machines aligned together to enable new possibilities, besides the existence of online platforms and e-commerce which requires a transformation of traditional education by exploiting the potential of digital technologies, personalized data and open-sourced contents. Traditional education, and old-fashioned curriculum must improve to cope with the Fourth Industrial Revolution demands. In order for Education 4.0 to meet the needs of Industry 4.0, which incorporates Artificial Intelligence, IoT, Big data and Cloud computing; it should be designed as personalized and blended learning depending on tech teaching customized according to each level for all types of education
R. ARAFAT EL MOURAD
VICE-PRESIDENT, HEAD OF SOURCING, EMIRATES NBD
From hunter-gatherers to industry 4.0… Indeed we have come a long way! The world is changing at a rapid pace and people need to contemplate this change. To meet the pace of the soaring trends, educational system needs to meet the requirements of the business. The curriculum at the institutions must be adaptable to the new revolution. With the advancement of Industry 4.0, it won’t be a surprise that plenty of jobs will be obsoleted. New jobs will be invented that has to be overpowered with the mastery of learning outcomes in harmony to the new business.
SOON LOO
CEO, BRUNEI ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT BOARD
The importance lays in teaching people how to learn. Industry 4.0 is a sign of the ever-increasing paces that the world is changing today – signaling the increasing demand on us. More so the knowledge itself, the ability to learn is one of the key component of education of the future.
TALAL KARIM ALOBAYD
PRINCIPAL PORTFOLIO MANAGER, ISLAMIC CORPORATION FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR, MEMBER OF THE ISLAMIC DEVELOPMENT BANK GROUP
I wanted to offer my thoughts on this from a different perspective; the current workplace educational pace. I am blessed to be part of an international institution that avails to me the opportunity to engage and interact with different companies of different characteristics throughout the world. Unfortunately, a common theme for most that I see, especially within our areas of care, seem to be a low immersion of the current staff with the concept of “Industry 4.0” such as the Digital Economy, Fintech, Blockchain, Big Data, Cloud Computing and AI. As such, I think companies have to really push these new concepts and train their current staff to enable sustained growth and ensure survivability of their firm.
ELRASHEID AHMED A. ELKHOTASANI
CHIEF HUMAN CAPITAL DEVELOPMENT ADVISOR, GLOBAL REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT OFFICE “NORTH AFRICA”
For the education system to respond to the needs of Industry 4.0, a readjustment approach is required. This, however, has yet to transpire. Towards this end, centres of learning excellence should conduct a proactive and an interactive due diligence assessment including thorough review of its digitalized learning, education, development and capabilities; with a view to ensure that its curriculum and syllabus contents remain relevant and competitive. An important element of the new curriculum would be to incorporate a technical-orientated know-how framework that will support and safeguard social communities and human capital development needs as well as empower social responsibility.
For the education system to keep up with the Industry 4.0 agenda; learning, development centres, educational institutions and professional qualifications granting bodies should mutually focus and concentrate on encapsulating within its learning curriculums and academic syllabus an objective to embody the changes brought about by Industry 4.0 and beyond.
The acquired qualitative modification to be inserted to the curriculum and syllabus must be geared up to leverage and expand the profound tools of analysis derivatives. Such tuning up would positively enable talent research-focused mindset to therefore easily adapt and proactively interact within the status quo of the impactful performing future-action orientation emerging from the industrial revolution.
