‘21st century learners need to adapt’

Dubai: A learner in the 21st century needs to have the ability to adapt to situations, Gabriel Sanchez Zinny, president and CEO of Kuepa.com, said at the Global Education and Skills Forum being held in Dubai.

The two-day forum gathered leaders from public, private and social sectors to shed light on some of the greatest challenges education faces today.

The forum has made it possible for institutions and leaders to exchange knowledge and expertise.

A panel comprising four prominent figures discussed the environment in which a 21st century learner resides.

“Now, technology allows you to do it all under your own pace, you now know what you like, what skills you need to improve to move up in your career,” said Sanchez.

Though learners might have immense access to information and technology, Sanchez argued that they must, however, continuously acquire new skills to meet the work environment demands.

“We have adults that need to learn to adapt to a 21st-century economy but these adults grew up in a 20th-century education system. They need to be ready to work in a 21st-century economy,” he added.

Sanchez emphasised that learners need to have the ability to adapt to the changes that take place in their surroundings and that the challenge is also turning adults into life-long learners who should acquire certain hard and soft skills they were not necessarily taught in school.

“I think you need hard skills, a core base, but hard skills are not efficient,” said Lutfey Siddiqi, Global Head of Emerging Market — FX, UBS Investment Bank, Singapore.

Agreeing that a combination of skills is required, Siddiqi added that with continuous change comes continuous learning. However, Esther McFarlane, Youth Advocate and Masters Student GEFI Youth Advocacy Group, South Africa highlighted that online education should not cancel out the classroom setting.

“The power of online technology is to improve and set out that some things are learnt better online, but it takes away the classroom environment,” she said. “The two however are not alternatives of opposites; we just need to come up with a way for both to be done together.”

Maria Botros is a trainee at Gulf News.