de

del

Eduardo del Buey
Photo: Afp
La Jornada Maya

Tuesday, March 26, 2019

Recently, Carlos Slim, one of the world’s wealthiest people, told the media that transferring funds to the poor does not address the developmental needs of any country. Rather, investing in and providing jobs are the essence of economic development and should be a fundamental government priority everywhere.

Indeed, former Uruguayan President Jose Mújica, a socialist, appears to agree, and recently said that “good governments are not those who use workers’ taxes to give money to the lazy, great governments are those who create conditions so that all have jobs”.

I agree that jobs are essential.

Indeed, according to Statistics Canada, over 800 thousand jobs have been created in Canada since prime minister Justin Trudeau was elected in late 2015. Of course, governments don’t directly create jobs in a healthy economy. But the financial and fiscal policies that they develop and implement, the leadership that they apply in encouraging economic growth, the scientific innovation that they support and encourage, together with the social programs that they create, all contribute towards ensuring that the private sector has the most conducive environment in which to create the jobs that society needs.

Jobs are essential. They provide people with a sense of identity, security, a hope for the future, and a sense of empowerment.

They provide the sustenance with which to raise families, educate children, and help ensure their health and well-being as far as is possible.

Moreover, they provide a sense of pride and worth, fundamental in creating a more prosperous, peaceful, creative, and law-abiding society.

Lastly, they provide purchasing power which creates opportunity for local businesses to grow and create additional jobs and a stronger economy that can benefit all.

To jobs, however, I would add education and empowerment.

Education is not only the basis not only for training people to earn a living, but also the fundamental element in helping to create citizens who can think for themselves and who can participate fully and intelligently in society. Who can develop a certain amount of critical judgment, and understand more fully the issues that affect their lives and how these challenges can be transformed into opportunities.

A proper 21st Century education will call for a melding of the arts and the sciences, mathematics and art appreciation. Today’s world of instant communications requires us all to be exposed to all facets of human learning so that we can not only cope with change, but contribute to it in a creative and meaningful way.

Without a holistic education, most jobs could remain beyond the reach of people in need.

Without a holistic education, most people could remain outside the parameters of economic and social development.

And without a holistic education, society will remain feudal and, in the end, futile.

Education can empower individuals to take control of their lives and destinies.

And empowerment can help create and sustain a democratic society, one in which institutions develop and strengthen, and one that respects the rights of the individual and balances them with the rights of society.

This brings me to my main concern for today’s world in which political leaders seem to be confused about how society should teach future generations not only individual disciplines, but also how future generations of students should learn and how educators should teach.

We face a world in which artificial intelligence is making rapid strides and is taking over many traditional jobs in industry, medicine, and engineering. We are heading into a world in which, increasingly, we will have to not only learn to manage technology and welcome its embrace, but also to manage transitioning people lest they be left behind. Not only that, but we must also focus on those who will produce the creative content required to make the whole thing work.

This requires a radical change of mindset.

When Gutenberg invented the movable type in the fifteenth century, he transformed the world and produced the renaissance, industrial revolution, and the basis of the economic and social systems that have lasted until the present.

The invention of information technology and artificial intelligence is producing a similar revolution whose destination remains beyond our comprehension.

How does a society manage this type of transformational revolution?

By engaging in a revolution of mentalities.

Gone are the days when everyone dreamt of obtaining a traditional university education at the expense of training in the trades. Gone are the days when one could study esoteric subjects and expect to be gainfully employed and, gone are the days when industry and government could each pursue their objectives without cooperating fully in developing curricula and centers of learning that would serve both the economy and the citizenry.

The economy is best served by producing graduates who can manage the technological tools that produce the goods and services that drive it. This requires serious and sustained investment in technology learning centers where students can learn to apply both the technical and the creative input required to participate in the economy of the future.

Universities must focus more on the sciences than ever before, but not at the expense of liberal and fine arts. As Apple founder Steve Jobs once noted, the university course that most helped him design and differentiate Apple was calligraphy, which led to his vision of melding art and technology in the Apple eco-system.

Andreas Schleicher, who is widely regarded as one of the world’s leading educational thinkers, recently told a British House of Commons Enquiry: “I would say, in the fourth industrial revolution, arts may become more important than maths. We talk about ‘soft skills’ often as social and emotional skills, and hard skills as about science and maths, but it might be the opposite,” he said, suggesting that science and maths may become ‘softer’ in future when the need for them decreases due to technology, and the ‘hard skills’ will be “your curiosity, your leadership, your persistence and your resilience”.

The strategic melding of arts and science is critical to creating the business world of the future without sacrificing the creative and performing arts that enhance the richness of our daily lives. After all, what good is a hi-tech platform without an artistic Cirque du Soleil performing on it?

But we must take the revolution further.

Many of us discriminate between university education and technical education. Yet, in this century, we will continue to need the machinists, plumbers, mechanics, construction workers, and others to maintain the economic and technical infrastructure required for a fully functioning and growing economy. These jobs in and of themselves will also be impacted by technological change and will no doubt be as challenging and potentially as rewarding as white-collar jobs.

Parents must change their mentality and ask if their child is better off pursuing a university degree in an area that may well render him or her unemployed, or whether they are better off encouraging them to study a trade where workers are always in demand and draw high levels of pay.

Of course, all of this requires industry, academia, and government to work closely to design the curricula of the 21st Century to meet the requirements of the market while ensuring that students have freedom of choice to pursue their dreams.

Are today’s political leaders visionary enough to define the world of the future and creative enough to develop the educational tools required to meet its demands?

Are voters prepared to hold their leaders’ feet to the fire and demand that they focus on the education of the future?

And are taxpayers willing to invest in solid education to ensure the survival of the economy?

These are the questions that society must answer to meet the objectives of Mr. Slim’s proposal that jobs are the only way to pull people out of poverty.

It is an effort that requires the commitment of all.

Are we ready?

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