The notion that young people wish to change the world is perhaps one for the ages, but the Qatar-based World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE) recently found that young people today feel they lack the skills to make such a difference to the world.

Several thousand young people from around the world were quizzed about their education, and their thoughts on the future.  They found that 87% of young people think they have a responsibility to improve the planet, but many feel that the education they receive today is not giving them the skills required to tackle the big societal issues of our age.

Alongside environmental concerns, the youngsters also expressed concern about poverty and social inequality, with access to employment also a concern.  Despite these concerns, relatively few are actively engaged in issues around these topics.

Expectations of school

Interestingly, the survey found that young people don’t expect schools to make them well-rounded per se, but instead to equip them with the skills to tackle whatever the future holds on a personal level.

“Young people are aware of the challenges that our world is facing and acknowledge that they have a responsibility as adults to address these challenges. At the same time, they are pragmatic both about their level of preparedness—they don’t feel quite ready yet— and also about the need to be active participants in the economy. It’s now up to policymakers to create the conditions for young people to both prosper and develop the solutions that will move our world forward” stated Stavros N. Yiannouka, CEO, WISE.

There was also a clear sense that education is not solely about preparing one for work, and has value in and of itself.  This was reflected in the finding that 84% of young people thought learning outside of school was as important as learning in school.

Areas for improvement

Despite this, there were also clearly areas where young people feel their schools could improve, not least in providing a more tailored and individual approach.  Some 60% of respondents wanted their teachers to give them more personal advice on how to learn, what to learn, and potential career choices.

They also believe that insufficient time and space is given to the skills needed for the 4th industrial revolution, whether in terms of technical skills, communication and organizational skills, or creativity.

Whether education systems have the ability to sufficiently adapt to the changing needs, both of society and of young people, is open to debate, but hopefully findings like these will at least provide a degree of added awareness of how young people are viewing education today.