Comment: Solving the Middle East's employment and skills crisis

The recent MENA talent competiveness index 2015 produced by INSEAD estimates that with 65% of the population under the age of 25, some 100 million new jobs will need to be created over the next two decades. However, the MENA region has an average unemployment rate of 22% and 39% for males and females respectively between the ages of 15-24, and the future looks bleak.

Add to this complexity a report from global firm E&Y, which states that only 29% of employers in the GCC feel that the education system prepares students with the necessary technical skills and training for the workplace, and the overall message is clear — the education system and the world of work are disconnected.

The role of education is now broadly playing catch up and how education is structured and delivered is changing, but not fast enough to keep up with the changing needs of employers and a dynamic Middle East economy.

Employability is about giving students a relevant skillset, attitude and technical competencies to improve their chances of finding employment. The development of critical 21st skills and work readiness must however be accelerated through a systems based approach rather than a loose collection of random measures, which has often been the case in the MENA region. Creating a framework that is targeted towards intended outcomes, can only be done through collaboration between all key players.

Producing young people with the skills of the future is challenging, when often education systems are using the tools and have a mindset of the past. Progress is now being made to develop teaching techniques in schools to develop critical thinking within students. More thought is being put into how to give learners a different way of thinking and enhancing creativity. Some schools in the region have now introduced coding in the classroom, but interestingly programming language changes so quickly that actually what we should be teaching is the capacity for procedural thinking.

What is clear is that the development of analytical thinking, problem identification and solving needs to start at both the school and home. Now, through creative solutions like gaming, which exposes the learner to problem solving, and working within complex situations with multiple variables, technology has created an early model for a self-sufficient worker. Young people in the region are incredibly tech savvy and embrace technology quickly.

To give learners many of the life skills and characteristics required for the future, it is important to implement a culture of employability within schools through leadership, teaching and assessment.

Learning about work should be part of regular schooling through practical internships to expose students to different job profiles and employers. In many parts of the world, students as young as 12 are beginning this process by short one or two days of company visits. Teachers should also be made aware of job profiles, labour market trends, and make better use of their alumni network to share their experience of the workplace with students.

The role of parents often gets overlooked in the employability narrative. Particularly in the MENA region, a lack of understanding of what it takes to succeed in today's labour market poses significant barriers to their children's ability to overcome obstacles and maximise opportunities. Parental engagement is key — through their support of their child career path, the skills required and understanding employment options can be a decisive factor in a young person's chosen career.

According to research by the University of Michigan, parents have a strong influence on children's work ethic. The way parents see their work can influence the way your children perceive their work in the future. Targeted interventions are required at all levels to improve the understanding of parents about how their relationship with their children can affect their career choice and future skill development.

How can schools produce students with skills and competencies needed for a contemporary and increasingly fast moving job market in the Middle East? School systems were built at a time when information was scarce and valuable and subsequently universities evolved to develop skilled professionals destined to work in a highly structured society.

However, that world no longer exists; competition is global. As careers shorten and the nature of work evolves, the skills required to gain employment and to succeed become ever more complex. Employers complain because they can't find the right people, not because they can't read, or lack computer or job specific skills but because they lack critical thinking, problem solving and teamwork. Perhaps worse, they also lack professionalism, adaptability, and personal accountability for work. These are the skills that the education systems are not geared to deliver but precisely what is required.

Fundamentally, it comes back to teaching, curriculum, and assessment. Quality of teaching remains the number one factor for success. University and school leaders must invest in their staff to build professional knowledge and skills and give students relevant experience. It's no longer about memorisation of knowledge but the application of knowledge that is key to employability.

To create young people with the cognitive, behavioural and technical skills, the following three steps can improve connectivity between all stakeholders.

Step one: promote school readiness through early childhood development. Preschool for children aged three to five should focus on building cognitive and behavioural skills across all classrooms.

Step two: build 21st century skills into general education through better schooling for all, with a curriculum and teaching and assessment methods that foster the development of cognitive and behavioural skills in students. Schools should also involve parents, industry and communities, and integrate entrepreneurship and enterprise education into the school curriculum.

Step three: build job-relevant technical skills through a more connected system between employers, students, career advisors and universities, and schools.

Schools have been tasked with preparing young people for careers that in the most part do not even exist yet, for technologies that have yet to be launched and problems that have yet to emerge. Impossible? No. Challenging? Yes, absolutely.

Meeting the challenge involves a major rethink of education, its role its perception and how we deliver it in the region. Fortunately, this rethink is underway.

Cameron Mirza, Head of strategy, Higher Education Council, Bahrain.