EDUCATION SECTOR

COMPILED BY Yamini Sequeira

ADAPT RATHER THAN IMITATE  ­

Suriya Bibile urges employers to prioritise skills development

Q: How effectively is our education system preparing youth for workplaces that are being reshaped by AI, automation and rapidly changing skills requirements?

A: Progress is being made in preparing local youth for a tech driven employment landscape through ongoing reforms to strengthen digital literacy – e.g. AI awareness; science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education; vocational pathways and practical approaches to learning. 

The Ministry of Education has established 900 smart classrooms to fuel this transformation. However, greater employer engagement and industry aligned qualifications are needed to ensure that education keeps pace with changing workplace needs. 

Stronger partnerships between institutions and employers – including work based learning, and industry inputs into curricula and assessments – will improve employability further. 

The priority now is to sustain this reform momentum, improve capacity building, and develop both technical skills and the adaptable human skills needed for future careers. Capacity building ensures that reforms and implementation are not separate. 

Q: Where is the disconnect between what education institutions teach, industry needs and employer expectations?

A: The disconnect lies in institutions often focussing on what students know while industry and employers increasingly value what graduates can do with that knowledge. 

Many universities still prioritise theory and exams, while employers need graduates who can solve real world problems, adapt quickly and contribute from day one. Industry seeks practical skills, digital and artificial intelligence literacy, and the ability to apply knowledge in workplace settings. 

At the same time, employers expect strong communication, teamwork, critical thinking, initiative and professionalism alongside technical competence. Closing this gap requires stronger multi stakeholder collaboration, industry aligned curricula, and project based learning, internships, apprenticeships and assessments. 

Curricular and assessments strategies also need to be reviewed every four to five years – or even more frequently through a rolling model. A static curriculum only widens the gap with a dynamic industry.

In addition, pathway qualifications with skills based learning and assessments that lead to academic degrees have a higher impact on producing work ready graduates.

Q: What skills should be prioritised to ensure a relevant and competitive workforce?

A: Three capability areas need to be prioritised. 

The first is enterprise wide AI and data literacy; not technical expertise alone but the ability to use artificial intelligence responsibly, challenge its outputs and apply it to real business problems with human judgement. 

And the second is to strengthen durable human skills: critical thinking, creativity, communication, collaboration, empathy and leadership. These will become even more valuable as routine tasks are automated. 

Finally, adaptability and continuous learning must become core organisational capabilities. Learning can no longer be delegated solely to schools and universities; employers must embed it into everyday work, redesign roles around human-AI collaboration, and support reskilling and redeployment. 

Individuals will need to spend more of their working lives learning as skills requirements change rapidly. Competitive advantages will come from combining technological fluency with human judgement and building a workforce that can learn faster than the pace of change.

Q: How can stakeholders collaborate to create a more responsive education system to refresh the employment pipeline?

A: Partnerships, rather than periodic and ad hoc consultations, can make a critical difference. Policymakers must use real-time labour market data to set priorities. 

Furthermore, agile quality assurance will be critical to maintaining benchmark standards while responding more rapidly to regular curricular developments and revisions. 

This requires a framework that accommodates micro credentials and assessment models aligned with emerging skills demands, rather than relying on fixed long-term content and assessment frameworks.

To sustain relevance to the labour market, educators should codesign curricula with employers and industry, update qualifications faster, and embed apprenticeships, live projects and career guidance. 

Individuals will need to spend more of their working lives learning as skills requirements change rapidly

Industry must provide demand signals, workplace learning and assessment inputs, and commit to skills based hiring. Modular, stackable pathways would enable learners and workers to reskill throughout their careers. 

And this is not new. Before the 1990s, educators and industry worked closely together, before academic qualifications claimed a greater share of this space. 

Individuals must also take active ownership of their development, supported by trusted guidance and portable credentials. 

Q: What would a truly industry connected education system look like – and what changes are needed to make this a reality?

A: A truly industry connected system would be built on shared ownership with priority sectors identified as needs evolve. 

An ideal scenario would be the government setting agile policies and funding, institutions codesigning curricula and work based learning, and employers providing placements, assessment inputs, skills based hiring and continuous reskilling. 

Sri Lanka could learn and consider adopting the proven strengths of Singapore’s lifelong learning ecosystem led by SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG), and the dual training pathways of Germany and Switzerland. 

The UK also adds distinctive strengths: employer aligned occupational standards, regulated qualifications, and exportable capacity in curriculum, quality assurance and teacher development. That expertise is already being applied through technical and vocational education and training (TVET) partnerships in the Middle East and Asia, including South Asia. 

In studying these systems, our aim should be adaptation rather than imitation. 

The interviewee is the Regional Manager – South Asia, Enterprise Learning & Skills of Pearson.