Skills will drive future than degrees, old jobs fading due to tech: Pradhan

Skills and competencies will drive the future rather than degrees, and old jobs have begun to vanish due to disruptive innovation and technology, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said on Sunday.

Pradhan was addressing a conference here ahead of the third G20 Education Working Group meeting later this week.

"Skills and competencies will drive the future rather than degrees. There will be a constant competition between God gifted human intelligence and Artificial Intelligence (AI)," Pradhan said in the keynote address at the conference themed 'Deep Tech with a Focus on Advanced Technology in Future of Work.'

"Old jobs are vanishing due to disruptive innovation and technology. New jobs are emerging but our workforce needs continuous skilling, reskilling and upskilling. Hence, we must think of new approaches to prepare youth for future jobs," he added.

The minister said that the 21st century will be knowledge-based and technology-driven.

"Guided by its civilisational ethos and as a natural hub of talent, captive market and resources, India is going to play a leading role in fulfilling the global aspirations of the 21st century," he asserted.

"Internet, mobility and global connectivity provides us with an opportunity to think about global requirements. We have to come together to convert this opportunity for India's youth as well as for those belonging to the Global South," he said.

During the conference, industry, academia, startup ecosystem and other stakeholders will brainstorm about reimagining the skilling ecosystem, creating future-ready global citizens and making India a global hub of skilled manpower.

Earlier in the day, the minister inaugurated an exhibition here on the future of work to showcase the need for acquiring new skills and knowledge as a result of the fast-evolving world.

The initiative was taken on the sidelines of the third Education Working Group meeting under the G20 presidency at CSIR-Institute of Minerals and Materials Technology (IMMT), Bhubaneswar, Odisha. The exhibition will continue till April 28.