Skilling Youngsters

I am worried when I observe youngsters experience self doubt, inferiority complex and just lack the ability to be resilient and survive in the big bad world. I look back on my childhood and wonder where my confidence level came from? Why were my inhibitions low? I too had my share of feeling inadequate and incompetent at times but never let it consume me.

I grew up in a township where I was given the responsibility of ferrying the young kids to school in the school bus. Mind you, I was not much bigger than these toddlers. I was also a kid. This meant that I had to take a head count of who was in the bus, whether they got down, and again on return whether they were all in the bus. So, at a very young age I learnt to accept responsibility. Not once did I parents protest and tell the other parents that this was too much for my delicate shoulders. Unknowingly I had picked up a life skill which still continues to be of help till date.

I was also encouraged to speak up, although the consequences may not be favourable. I was taught to pay more attention to my strengths (education, skills) rather than focus on what I did not have (fancy clothes or toys). Household chores were taught as a survival skill. The township library had books to satiate my thirst for fiction books and also improve my vocabulary. Group cultural activities made me develop team spirit.

As a teacher, I tried to give my students the exposure that would help them in developing skills necessary for corporate life. Of course they didn’t like it at that time. Only after graduating they understood why I was so harsh and insisted on things like discipline, punctuality, grooming, communication skills, experiencing discomfort etc.

I would like to request parents to be less over protective and let the child experience a bit of discomfort and find out ways and means to handle it. Of course, we as parents will always be by their side to prevent overdose of discomfort. Let us give them the life skills for survival. I also request teachers to be creative in imparting professional skills to the students in order to improve their employability quotient. Finally a shoutout to all youngsters, to embrace the discomfort and work on their life skills to find a purpose in life. Else life will carry no meaning.

Skilling, Reskilling and Upskilling is a lifelong process. And no learning goes waste.