20 July, 2022
4 min read
How to Prepare Our Children for the Digital Economy
The world is evolving at a very fast speed and this is impacting our lives, the economy, and career aspirations. As described by Deloitte, this results from billions of everyday online connections among people, businesses, devices, data,
As such, as parents, it is important to help our children develop the right skills if they would be relevant in the future of work and the digital economy. To do this, we have recommended 4 steps the below:
Below are 4 ways to prepare our children for the digital economy:
1. Organize career and networking sessions for your children
Most children are still used to the idea that they want to be doctors, lawyers, architects, engineers, pilots and all. However, there are more career opportunities than this in this current digital age that would be springboards for those in the future of work. There are now Product Managers, Software Engineers, SEO Specialists, Business Analysts, Solution Architects, Data Engineers, and several others that children do not know about. Thus, they need to interact with these people to know what their jobs are about, ask them questions, and imagine themselves in these roles.
2. Encourage your children’s school to study and learn from the Finnish Education Model
The Forum’s Human Capital Report has recognized the Finnish education system as one of the most successful in the world. This incredible success is rooted in things such as the regular updates of the curriculum; significant emphasis on teacher education marked through continuous training, hiring the best hands, and enumerating them well; and promotion of inclusion and diversity. By engaging the schools during Parent and Teachers’ Association meetings on the need to recruit the best minds and encouraging them to participate in training, conferences, and industry discussions around modern and best practices around education, parents are sure their children are being upskilled in the right ways by their teachers. After all, teachers invariably impact who they are on the students.
3. Introduce your child to an apprenticeship program
This involves placing your teenage children into vocational programs where they can learn on-the-job training (perhaps during their holiday). Considering the world is becoming more digital, we recommend an apprenticeship program that would give them a wide range of exposure to different technologies used in the workplace. Furthermore, they would develop practical skills required for their field of work as they grow older, have an opportunity to learn work habits, and absorb the culture of the company. More importantly, the exposure would make it easier for them to transition from the classroom into the workplace. This model is currently being used in Germany, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom among others and it would be interesting for parents to learn how to apply it to the context of their children.
4. Let your children take part in specific online courses that would equip them with digital skills
Parents should take out time to explore the Internet and have conversations with educational experts to make recommendations for online courses their children or teenagers can take that would help them develop digital skills. This could be taking courses on the LinkedIn Learning platform, Coursera, Khan Academy, YouTube channels, or other massive open online courses. The more children are exposed to self-learning at young ages, the more they are building the right foundations.
As a way forward, Edusko, through the annual Bournvita Tech Bootcamp exposes children between the ages of 9 - 16 to the technologies of the fourth industrial revolution. It would be an amazing opportunity for your children to further develop their skills by working on different exciting STEM projects. See more details here.
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