Preparing Students for a Changing World
Dear Parents,
Good morning!
I recently attended the IC3 Conference in Mumbai, where school leaders, counsellors and universities from India and across the world come together to discuss what is changing in education, admissions and careers.
I came back thinking about how quickly the world our children are preparing for is changing.
Some of the things I heard were not new, but they made me pause and think about what we need to strengthen at GGIS.
The university landscape is changing.
Students are increasingly looking at India, South-East Asia and Japan for higher education. More than 50% of Indian students continue their higher education in India after Grade 12. At the same time, India itself is becoming a growing higher education market, with around 52 new universities being planned.
This means that the conversation around “good colleges” is changing too.
There are more choices, more courses and more pathways. Our job is to help children understand the right fit — based on their interests, strengths, career aspirations and, very importantly, their family's budget — rather than simply chasing a familiar university name.
Careers are changing just as quickly.
We heard about careers and opportunities that many of us would not have considered a few years ago: space psychologist, AI ethicist, climate risk analyst, synthetic biology engineer, brain-computer interface designer, space lawyer, digital wellbeing specialist and carbon removal specialist.
So the question cannot only be, “What do you want to become?”
It needs to become:
And perhaps most importantly:
This is why I feel career counselling needs to begin much earlier. It cannot be something that starts in Grade 12 when a child has to suddenly make a big decision. We need to help children understand themselves and their options from Grades 8 onwards.
The role of the school is changing too.
There was a lot of discussion around AI and the skills children will need in the future. This has a direct implication for our classrooms.
Our children need to do more than learn and reproduce information. They need to question, discuss, research, present, collaborate, solve problems and think independently.
AI will make information easier to access. That makes the ability to think well even more important.
We also heard a lot about preparing children for uncertainty. As educators, our role cannot be to remove all uncertainty from their lives. It is to help them navigate it.
So, what are we doing at GGIS?
This week, we are hosting two important online conversations for our students and parents around admissions, careers and the changing university landscape. We are also considering recording a podcast to share with the rest of the school community.
I would strongly encourage you to join these conversations. The intention is not to add pressure around college, but to give families better information and more clarity.
We will also be strengthening and broadening our conversations around universities and careers, and creating more opportunities for children to explore possibilities beyond the traditional choices.
Alongside this, we are looking at how we can bring more case studies, projects, discussions, presentations, research and real-life problem-solving into classroom learning.
I came back from IC3 feeling that there is a lot for us to rethink, but also a lot to be excited about.
The opportunities available to our children are far wider than they were for us. But with more choices also comes more confusion. I think our role, as parents and educators, is to help children navigate that world without making their choices for them.
That is the direction I would like us to keep moving towards at GGIS.
