In 2014, the United Nations General Assembly declared 15 July as World Youth Skills Day, to celebrate the strategic importance of equipping young people with skills for employment, decent work and entrepreneurship. World Youth Skills Day 2021 will pay tribute to the resilience and creativity of youth through the crisis. Participants will take stock of how Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) systems have adapted to the pandemic and recession, think of how those systems can participate in the recovery, and imagine priorities they should adopt for the post-COVID-19-world.
With the loss of around 195 Million jobs, impacting education, and disrupting the vulnerable groups, COVID-19 is still the most problematic issue the world is facing currently. Among all the other problems related to the pandemic, preparing young people to earn and thrive in a post-COVID world requires immediate attention.
Owing to changing trends in technology, technical skills are required in every sector. According to World Economic Forum, 54% of employees will need to be reskilled and up-skilled by 2022 to respond to changing work environments. They need the skills to rapidly learn, adapt, practice resiliency, and take advantage of entrepreneurial mindsets, to respond to this reality with the ingenuity to earn an income.
The rapid spread of the COVID-19 pandemic has led to an increase in the importance and demand of skill development. The sudden shift to digital technologies has redefined businesses globally. Digital does not only refers to technology but also includes ‘How the work is done? How data is evaluated? How innovation is approached and applied? and How cost-effectiveness is used’?
The new E-environment requires skills and talent, and skill development has opened a gateway of opportunities for youth ensuring better earning and lifestyle.
This changing environment calls for a transformation in how we think about skills. Young people must “learn to learn” to develop the abilities required to gain new skills and adapt, which will help them secure work opportunities.
Its time that youth development practitioners expand their framework of skills and include fundamental soft skills in their learning structure that can help young people thrive in a rapidly changing world of work.
