Job skills won't last: Nobel laureate Esther Duflo on rethinking college education

JAIPUR: Amid rapid advances in artificial intelligence, Nobel Prize–winning economist Esther Duflo on Friday urged for a fundamental rethink of college education, arguing that universities should focus less on vocational training and more on equipping students to conduct themselves in an increasingly dynamic world.

Speaking at the 19th Jaipur Literature Festival, Esther Duflo reflected on rapid technological change and emphasised that higher education should not be limited to producing job-ready graduates, but should provide a strong foundation in the humanities -- an essential component even for those pursuing technical disciplines.

“The entire landscape is evolving so fast that the specific skill you are teaching someone will become obsolete by the time they finish their education, and certainly by the time they enter the job market. We have to think about college education as a way to equip students to conduct themselves in the world.

“... What this implies, in my opinion - and this may sound somewhat self-serving -- is that college education needs to involve a strong humanities background: the ability to write, the ability to think, and the ability to make decisions for yourself,” said Duflo, who is out with a new expanded edition of her bestselling book "Poor Economics: Rethinking poverty & the ways to end it", co-written with her husband and fellow Nobel laureate Abhijit Banerjee.

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Rethinking fundamentals of education

Using GPS as an analogy to describe higher education, the 53-year-old economist explained that while specific skills can quickly become obsolete, the ability to learn, adapt, and make sound decisions will endure. She further made her case for skills such as writing clearly, thinking critically, and making independent judgments as central to college education, adding that disciplines like philosophy, ethics and social sciences play a vital role in developing these abilities.

"Rather than learning to write lines of code, you need to learn fundamental probability and statistics because this is what is under the hood of these things that are going to help you moving forward," she explained. Further, reflecting on the pace of technological change, Duflo suggested that progress may paradoxically require a return to educational fundamentals.

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"In some sense, and at some level, the way technology is moving forward means that we need to move backward -- or perhaps move higher up -- to rethink the fundamentals of what education is, including learning basic life skills like brushing your teeth and making your bed,” she concluded, pointing out that many students arrive at college without such skills after spending their school years only focused on examinations.

The five-day literary festival is hosting more than 350 celebrated authors and scholars, including Booker Prize winner Banu Mushtaq, chess legend Viswanathan Anand, British actor and author Stephen Fry, Sahitya Akademi Award winner Anuradha Roy, veteran film critic Bhawana Somaaya, and authors Manu Joseph, Ruchir Joshi, and KR Meera. The festival will conclude on January 19.