For The Education System To Foster Critical Thinking, It Must Start From De-Digitalisation

The Secretariat hosted 'Skilling India in The Age of AI', a conference that brought together policymakers, industry leaders, economists, educators, and skilling experts to explore the opportunities and challenges presented by AI-driven disruption. 

Speaking at the event, Charu Malhotra, Co-Founder and MD, Primus Partners, said, “AI is reshaping roles and jobs, but it is also transforming jobs.” 

“There are a lot of women who are not in employment, not in education, not in training, and that’s at least a 38% gap as compared to the unemployment gap. We need to be cognisant of this blind spot also,” she said.  

-- Charu Malhotra, Co-Founder and MD, Primus Partners

The conference also discussed how India can harness this opportunity to build a future-ready workforce, ensure inclusive growth, and equip workers with the skills required to thrive in an AI-powered economy. 

Speaking on the education sector, Mitali Nikore, Gender Economist and Director, Nikore Associates, said that India needs to look at how other countries are de-digitalising their education systems until a certain age.

 “If we want to create critical thinkers, firstly, we need to keep them away from digital systems for a while, like what Sweden has done,” she said.  

-- Mitali Nikore, Gender Economist and Director, Nikore Associates

Meanwhile, Meghna Bal, Director, Esya Centre, who was also present in the panel discussion, said, “When you have technology that comes in, that can supplant human thinking, it creates a challenge for the large amount of value that a person can generate within a market.”