An interesting report has just been published jointly by The British Council and Think Global. It is entitled “The Global Skills Gap: Preparing young people for the new global economy”. The report is based on the findings of interviewing 500 chief executives and board level directors in companies with at least 10 employees. These chief executives were all based in the UK so although strictly speaking it refers just to Britain I’m suspect that the findings are also applicable worldwide. They very much support my stance on education. As those of you who have perused my website will have gathered I am very concerned about the way in which 16-19 teaching has become more and more like drilling with the whole emphasis solely on attaining good examination results. This has been at the expense of focusing on providing a good all-round education with the emphasis on understanding and critical thinking so that students are able to put their knowledge into a wider perspective.

The precise statistics are given in the report but essentially what the survey found is that when they are looking to recruit new employees more employers say that knowledge and awareness of the wider world is more important than class of degree or choice of subjects studied at school.

Following this up three quarters of UK businesses think that the UK is in danger of being left behind emerging countries unless students are taught to think more globally and lead more sustainable lives.

Some examples of schools that are helping young people to think more globally are given. As with many documents originating from the UK it is very much A level orientated but what they are looking for is exactly what the IB specifically aims to be doing already: "The aim of all IB programmes is to develop internationally minded people who, recognizing their common humanity and shared guardianship of the planet, help to create a better and more peaceful world."¹

What this report shows is that we would be much better serving our students by focusing on the Learner Profile and the International Dimension, ‘Aim 8’ and TOK, CAS etc. than by narrowly focusing only on examination results. The very qualities that are not really examined at the end of the course are those qualities that employers most value when they are recruiting prospective employees. What is more important – getting our students into university or providing them with the skills that they will need to be employable in the future?
Hopefully through a good IB education we can do both.

¹ Introduction to the IB learner Profile