The Skills Edge

‘The Skills Edge’ is A must read for those connected to schools in any way. Incidentally, while I was reading ‘The Skills Edge” book, my daughter was watching an episode of the "Tenali Ramakrishna" series where the protagonist argues with King Sri Krishnadevaraya to set up schools in the city and not in the forest. The main point for his argument was that after the schooling, the kids are not going to live in the forest but in the communities, hence the schools established in the community will give a practical exposure to life which is more effective. The Skills Edge Book and the episode have one thing in common – they emphasized the essence and purpose of schooling. The book has included many relevant areas of skills approach – from concepts related to skills to the roles and responsibilities of all the stakeholders, from the activities to the assessments. Examples of personalities who are successful despite the challenges convince and press the need to focus on skills. The five broad divisions of skills and the relevant activities will act as a guide, a reason for some activities that are usually organized in schools - Specifically the tables on pages 43, 44, 45, and 46. The interesting part is the resemblance of school mechanism with that of an organization’s activities which gives a space to create ample opportunities for students. Picking a certain book is mainly because of the authors and having been a participant in the training sessions by the authors, it is inevitable to pick this up. If there is a massive change or introduction or enhancement in schooling that should start then there should be a buzz on it, as these days there is a buzz on Coding and previously it was smart classes. Thank you authors for sharing your experience and buzz around Skill Education.

It was heartening to read a book which addressed grass root level issues related to school education. The book deals with suggestions for enhancing the scope for children to improve social, intellectual, technological, adaptive, creative and innovative skills. Enhancing these skills would certainly enable children to develop into confident, happy and pleasant members of the society. The book also suggests, how all stake holders, i.e., teachers, parents, corporates and other institutions could contribute to preparing an employable and productive work force with minimum effort. What is noteworthy is that the book suggests ways which do not disrupt the existing systems. A little pragmatic change in attitude of the stake holders could achieve the desired results. Hope the ideas suggested in the book are adopted by schools and the skills approach to education becomes a mass movement. Arun Warhadpande