Why competency development needs to begin in school

On the one side is growing unemployment. On the other are graduates unable to get jobs because of a lack of practical knowledge and mismatch of skills. There is also the issue of changing workplace needs due to the expansion of Artificial Intelligence and other technologies. How then can we guide our children towards a stable future?The answer lies in school. When subjects in school form the basis for higher education, why should the other skills also not be introduced early? Applied skills and the abilities underlying the current requirements are not entirely new. The basic form exists in school. For example, a student solving a mathematical problem needs to understand the question, identify the information available, consider alternatives, select an approach, proceed step by step, justify the process and check the result. Science provides opportunities for observation, questioning, examining causes, considering evidence, and testing conclusions. Reading involves understanding ideas, identifying their importance, connecting them with other ideas, and questioning them. Such activities are not themselves applied skills but are foundational learning experiences through which the basic forms of relevant abilities can develop. Projects, practical work, Information and Communication Technology (ICT), STEM activities and other academic experiences provide further opportunities. The concern is whether these opportunities are being systematically used so that students can develop the competencies required later.However, school education has certain compulsions such as syllabus completion, holding exams, marks, and other academic outcomes. The use of opportunities for competence development consequently depends on the initiative of the individual children. A child who is naturally inquisitive, confident, or active may benefit more from an available opportunity than another child. But deliberate competence development requires sustained attention to each student: how he/she understands, questions, reasons, plans, communicates, responds, and learns. It requires regular practice, observation, guidance, feedback and progressive development. This may not be possible in the regular subject periods; it requires specialised preparation and expertise.This calls for a separate and cost-conscious track for foundational competence training that does not disturb the academic routine or introduce another syllabus. Its purpose is to create a deliberate and continuous space in which every student can learn, practise, demonstrate and progressively develop foundational competencies. Ideally it should begin between 12 and 14 years of age, when students are mature enough to engage with understanding, questioning, reasoning, planning, communication, decision-making, and responsibility while remaining in the structured school environment where facilitators can enable regular and compulsory practice for every student.The objective is not to teach applied skills prematurely. It is to establish foundational competence and familiarise students with the process through which competence develops. The progression may be understood as: Capacity — Competence — Practice and Application — Skill — Wisdom.A capacity becomes competence through development. Competence grows into skill through continued practice and application, while sustained practice and experience can progressively contribute to wisdom. Once developed, foundational competence extends beyond the course into subject learning, projects, practical activities, communication, and other experiences. Continued practice and application make it stronger, more skilled and more natural.The continuum of education refers to the progressive development of each competency across all stages: from school to higher secondary, higher education, and ultimately to employment. Consequently, what an employer identifies upon graduation as an applied skill need not be an unfamiliar requirement to the candidate. It represents the developed and recognised expression of a competence that a student has already practiced and built upon across the education continuum.The foundational competence course can also introduce other aspects such as self-awareness, self-discipline, self-confidence, goal-setting, and managing emotions, which not only support an individual’s development but also help them respond responsibly to situations through their life.Various initiatives have attempted to develop competencies among schoolchildren, such as UNICEF Life-Skills programmes, the UNICEF-CBSE-Udyam 21st-century skills pilot, Kerala’s Little KITEs, the CASEL social-emotional learning framework, and WHO’s school-based life-skills initiative. The National Curriculum Framework (NCF) 2023 also recognises competencies within Indian school education. These precedents recognise competency development, sans its implementation, as a regular school provision with continuous practice and assessment for every student.The proposed approach is, therefore, not to disregard existing school education or replace subject teaching but to ensure that the foundational abilities embedded in learning experiences are deliberately developed in every student, rather than left to individual initiative or incidental opportunities. The immediate outcome is stronger engagement with learning and greater opportunity for excellence in subjects. The long-term outcome will be students progressively growing into confident individuals who can handle a changing world.The writer is a development strategist and research faculty in community development.