SHAH ALAM - Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) related jobs will be in high demand in the future.
Center for Teaching, Thinking and Innovation (CenT-TI) director Zahari Othman said jobs such as artificial intelligence experts, cloud engineers, software developers and big data analysts will be in higher demand in the coming years as new technologies are developed to meet the demand for the complexity of tasks in the modern world.
"In addition, there will be jobs or professions that will be created due to innovation in IT science and technology," he told Sinar Daily.
Zahari, who is a fellow at the Institute of Mathematical Science in the Faculty of Science at Universiti Malaya, further added that policy makers in education and curriculum designers may have to relook for potential transformations to meet the demand for the complexities of future jobs.
"These jobs and many other jobs that are nonexistent now need educators and teachers to relook at their current pedagogical approaches."
"Obviously, new jobs and professions that will be created in the years to come are the result of human creativity and necessities."
Zahari, who specialises in the development of higher-order thinking skills (HOTS), added that educational policymakers should use creativity as well as an analytical and predictive mind to look for potential changes in various fields of technology.
Along with policymakers, he commented that parents must learn to lead their children to think critically and creatively.
"Not to mention, schools should make an effort to organise workshops for parents on how to help their children learn at home using higher-order thinking approaches, so that their children grow up to be skilled thinkers."
Echoing Zahari’s view, Teach For Malaysia chief executive officer Chan Soon Seng also agreed that STEM related jobs will lead the future.
"In the immediate term, there is definitely a need to ensure that our graduates are able to meet the talent needs of STEM related jobs."
However, he commented that one of the most difficult challenges in education is preparing students for jobs that have yet to be created.
"Many jobs will be automated away, and many new jobs will be invented, so it is hard to definitively say what jobs will be drivers of the future.
"What we can predict is that it is unlikely that a student today will do one type of job for their entire life," he added.
Soon Seng believed that students would need 21st century skills such as lifelong learning, adaptability, and resilience to navigate an ever-changing career landscape.
Meanwhile, Parent Action Group for Education chairman Datin Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim commented that it was difficult to project what the jobs of the future will be, and this is the dilemma that has faced parents since time immemorial.
"What is important is that our children are able to communicate, are teachable, agile and open minded to new avenues and approaches."
In terms of communication, Noor Aziman believed that students needed to master languages because it would be a bridge to success.
"The superpowers are China, the United States, India and Indonesia. So, I believe the English Language, Mandarin, and Bahasa Indonesia are best learned to be able to trade with them."
She commented that language skills will drive students' adaptation to future jobs.