Preparing Children For A Vastly Different Tomorrow: Why Schools And Parents Must Evolve

The world is racing into the future at breakneck speed, while most schools remain firmly rooted in the past. If the last decade felt VUCA—volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous—it is nothing compared to the hyper-VUCA decade ahead. This is the world today’s children will inherit: terrifying yet full of possibility.

Consider what lies ahead:

• According to McKinsey Global Institute, up to 30% of today’s jobs may disappear within the next five years

• Online echo chambers will deepen polarisation, with people refusing to consider views beyond their feed

• Up to 90% of online content will soon be AI-generated according to Europol

• Deepfakes will distort truth and manipulate opinion at scale

• Children now spend 60% less time meeting friends in person compared to a decade ago, as highlighted by Jonathan Haidt in ‘The Anxious Generation’. This will only get worse.

• Teen depression—already up 150% over the last decade according to the above source —is still rising

• According to a study in MIT, extensive usage of AI leads to significantly reduced brain activity and critical thinking

And yet, most schools continue to operate as mark-producing factories, despite clear evidence that academic performance alone is no measure of success or happiness. Of course, many schools also encourage sports and arts. But that is mere patchwork where a complete overhaul is the need of the hour.

It is time to shift from a topper-obsessed system to one that nurtures 360-degree development.

1. Purpose

A strong sense of purpose is the most powerful defence against digital distraction. Purpose-driven children aspire to create real-world impact. They willingly trade the instant gratification of mind-numbing scrolling for meaningful, long-term goals.

2. Critical Thinking

In an era of overwhelming and unreliable information, students must learn to distinguish fact from fiction, truth from distortion. Critical thinking helps them sift through noise, identify relevance, make cross-disciplinary connections, and see the bigger picture.

3. Continuous Learning

To stay ahead of AI, students must learn how to learn—constantly, creatively, and across disciplines. Those who can connect ideas from multiple domains will generate insights and innovation that machines cannot.

4. Emotional Intelligence

Empathy, self-awareness, and the ability to understand others’ emotions, motivations and struggles will define leadership in the future. These inherently human capabilities cannot be automated. Hence study of humanities takes pre-eminence. The intersection of humanities with other fields will be the hearth where true leaders are forged.

5. Collaboration

As face-to-face interactions decline, the ability to collaborate becomes a superpower. Children who learn to work well with others naturally emerge as leaders.

6. Resilience

In a VUCA+ world, one thing is guaranteed: failure—repeated and unexpected. Life will pull the rug out from under our children many times. Their ability to rise each time, and use the momentum to scale new heights will determine their success.

7. Growth Mindset

The belief that abilities can be developed—not inherited—fuels lifelong learning. When children measure themselves by how much they learn, not how gifted they are, they stay motivated to evolve, upgrade, and grow.

The process of learning itself needs a radical shift.

• Replace monologues with conversations.
  Discussions, debates, and inquiry-based learning build communication skills, research skills, critical thinking, and respect for differing viewpoints.

• Use human stories across all subjects.
  Stories are used extensively even today while teaching social sciences or languages. But these stories are as important even while teaching science, math, commerce, or economics. Stories of human striving, impact, and achievement make learning meaningful, memorable, and emotionally rich. They build empathy, resilience, and purpose.

• Teachers must become co-learners.
  When teachers explore themes alongside students, they model a growth mindset and show that learning has no finish line—and that wisdom can come from anyone.

• Prioritise group work.
  Group projects and discussions build collaboration, situational leadership, conflict resolution, and respect for diversity.

• Reinvent assessment.
  Assessment should be:

  • Qualitative, not mark-centric

  • Continuous, not one-time

  • Focused on growth, not ranking

Teachers should evaluate observed behaviours across the life-skills outlined above, with feedback designed for improvement—not comparison.

A word of appreciation to the progressive schools already walking this path. The movement is small but growing. For it to gain momentum, parents must evolve too—from wanting to raise toppers to wanting to raise leaders. Building life-skills need to start at home — through honest communication, story-telling, role modeling, and shared experiences. 

Because the future will not belong to those with the highest marks.
It will belong to those with the strongest minds, the biggest hearts, and the deepest sense of purpose.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of NDTV Profit or its affiliates. NDTV Profit does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of the information presented in this article.