Developing non-quantifiable skills through humanities education

Skills, what are they?

A lot of discussion these days is surrounded around this word but hardly any thought has been given to what this term fundamentally stands for. While we are at it let’s ask some more apparently not-so-pressing questions around it. Why is there such a big need for them in today’s context? Do only practical skills matter? What happens when certain skills are not quantifiable but essential nevertheless? How does one then go about measuring them? As a perennial student and a provoking teacher of philosophy I have naturally begun this article with some tricky questions worth pondering about. Let me now attempt answering them.

A skill is essentially defined as - the ability to do something well. Simple and straightforward. Now what this ‘something’ entails is the key question when dealing with exactly what comes under 'skills'. Also, does the recent phenomenon of 'soft' skills implies that there are some skills which are by nature 'hard'? Skills are important as it is important to do a whole lot of things well while navigating this rollercoaster of a ride we call 'life'. Most commonly when someone mentions skills, they are likely to be talking about those abilities that have become quite necessary to survive in our competitive world. These skills usually work on the principle of applicability. People are expected to be skilled enough to solve a real life problem and in turn they shall get paid for it. So, the something that young graduates aim to do well is also something that has the potential to pay them well.

This brings us to the next question in line, do only practical skills matter? If you go about the dictum of capitalism under which we all are doomed to thrive then yes, practical skills are all one should care about as these are the ones that will help one get paid adequately (supposedly) for their labour, both physical and intellectual. But these are not the only skills worth developing, are they? There are quite a few 'non-practical' skills that are needed for a student to acquire in order to learn how to navigate their lives well. Skills that will help them add real value to their existence instead of simply knowing the price of everything and the value of none. Although skills are almost always considered as a means towards an end, there are some crucial skills one must acquire, skills that are an end in themselves. It is such set of important skills that the humanities subjects have to offer to develop any young mind out there open enough to embrace all that these subjects has to offer.

Humanities education by its very nature is non-quantifiable. What humanities students learn to do well is not something that can be accurately ascribed numbers to. One can even say that the skills that such an education provides is not something that there will be job posting about. In fact, if we were to understand 'skill development' only in its traditional sense then these subjects would be surely termed 'anti-skill-development' by their practical applications oriented counterparts. However, it will be very difficult for even the naysayers to deny a certain timelessness quality to skills attained by humanities subjects. An exposure to History gives a student the true context of their existence by knowing all that has come to pass before they did. The subject imprints on the mind that we are not 18, 20, 30, 40 or 50 years old but in fact we are all thousands and thousands of years old and hopefully will start behaving accordingly someday. An induction in Sociology is useful in understanding and appreciating the structure and functioning of human society which will be of immense support when the students eventually find themselves thrown into society after graduation. Economics helps one understand the behavioural value of choices taken at the micro and the macro level by understanding the connection between resources and their consumption. It develops critical-thinking and problem-solving skills to make better decisions by using data to evaluate all the alternatives before making a choice. A grounding in Philosophy develops the mind in ways no practically oriented field can since philosophy is all about constant questions and the endless variable answers that have been given over centuries. It makes a student humble when they realize that knowledge is not an acquisition but always a pursuit without end. A true student of philosophy knows that they know nothing. While all these subjects deal with what can be known, subjects like Literature take a mind to heights which can never be reached through logic and common sense. There are many things that only a flight of imagination is capable of teaching us and the freedom to break all rules of language can offer very complex learnings even in a very basic structure of poetry. It’s about the depth of an individual that can develop only through a blatant disregard for what use a particular education is going to have for an individual. Maybe a true end in itself!

It must be clear to the reader by now that I can continue this for as long as required to convince them that it is not just a need but a necessity to develop these non-quantifiable poignant skills amongst students to go hand in hand with the practical skills if we wish to build a whole person and not just a collection of talents. After all, isn’t that what education is all about, building people? What is the point of education if it cannot instil wisdom through an all-round development of an individual? Education must be used as a toolkit to achieve a great many tasks at hand but at the same time not lose sight of the bigger picture, that of preparing a student for their whole adult life ahead. Preparing a student for life.

In theory, the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 has its intention and heart in the right place, no doubt about that. It is about time we build our students to be on par with the rest of the world and impart skills that can easily convert into vocations that help them make a good living instead of graduating from college and then learning a whole new set of skills at work to be able to do their job right. The disparity between what one learns and what one uses to earn must dissolve over time. However, it also makes one wonder, in my case panic, that whether this push will come at the expense of other valuable education that does not necessarily transform into employable skills. Under this new education system, will there be no place for non-quantifiable skills in the long run? Will the emphasis be only on ‘skill’ development and not ‘person’ development? I dearly hope not while I hope that newer institutions dare to go against the prevalent trend of providing subjects that are in demand now but instead also offer humanities as a crucial part of their curriculum. One can only hope that the future of humanities under the NEP’s push towards vocational skill development is as bright as the youth of our country is.

The true path to bringing India out of a colonial mindset would be through imbibing and encouraging thought leadership by enabling our future students to have the courage to chart out their own paths. Chasing skills which change every few years based upon the market trends will result in ideal employees at best who are experts at following but not necessarily showing the way. We already are one of the fastest growing economies in the world with a vision of being a $5 trillion economy and the largest skilled youth population in the near future. This won’t be enough though if we wish to someday measure these important metrics and set targets for our economy in our own currency instead of the dollar. India needs independent innovative thinkers and not just employable skilled workers for it to truly be a leading economy of the future. While we gear up to welcome NEP with open arms let’s also keep an eye out for not getting too much carried away in the process and take things as slow as possible. There is good reason for this measured approach for as important as it is to ask questions to get things done, it is also vital to be quiet, reflect and listen to the answers.

#nationaleducationpolicy2020 #nep2020 #humanities