The future of education. Tips from Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba

The future of work will look quite different in the coming years as automation and artificial intelligence take over manual and repetitive jobs.

Conform McKinsey Global Institute, roboții ar putea înlocui 800 de milioane de joburi până în 2030, în timp ce Forumul Economic Mondial sugerează că o „revoluție a abilităților” ar putea deschide o lume nouă a oportunităților.

„Dacă nu vom schimba modul în care predăm în școli, în 30 de ani vom avea necazuri”, says Jack Ma, the founder of Alibaba, the global e-commerce giant.

The outdated approach in the education system will disadvantage the children, who will never be able to compete with the machines. Therefore, they must learn to think independently, have strong values and recognize the importance of teamwork.

Jack Ma, who retired from the Chinese giant to focus on education, believes it is the most important aspect of the world we live in. The world is changing fast, but education is lagging behind.

However, its formula is not based on curriculum or tests, but on students' ability to love.

„Dacă vrei să ai succes, trebuie să ai o inteligență emoțională ridicată, un mod diferit de a înțelege oamenii. Dacă nu vrei să o dai în bară ușor, trebuie să ai un IQ ridicat. Iar dacă vrei să fii respectat, ar trebui să ai un indice de iubire ridicat. Creierul va fi înlocuit de mașini, însă mașinile nu vor înlocui niciodată o inimă”, says Jack Ma.

For Ma, the future looks different. Classes should no longer be divided into 40-50 minute units, teachers will no longer be know-it-alls, and educators will focus more on asking the right questions than getting the right answers. „Dacă te concentrezi pe standardizare, totul poate fi înlocuit de mașini”, says Ma, who failed college entrance exams several times.

Jack Ma's formula for more effective education systems

Ma suggests that the process of emotional learning must begin in childhood - when children are building new skills and values - and less so in universities, where values are already formed. Schools and kindergartens have a huge potential to shape the future of children, and education must change its performance indicators and therefore the way of examination.

„Universitatea nu îți garantează că vei avea un job”, Ma added, saying that at Albaba he didn't hire students from MIT or Harvard, but people who showed him that they were ready to learn constantly.

Jack Ma also suggests that education needs to become global and focused on teamwork. The last century was won by brawn, while this one will be won by brains.

We invite you to listen to his speech in full below.