Equip youth with skills to adapt to emerging work ecosystem: Union Minister Subhas Sarkar at G20 Education Working Group meet

Bhubaneswar (Odisha) [India], April 27 : The 3rd Education Working Group Meeting (EdWG) under India's G20 Presidency commenced in Bhubaneswar on Thursday.
More than 60 delegates from 27 countries including G20 members were invited and International Organisations including United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF), United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) were present.
In the inaugural address by Union Minister of State for Education Subhas Sarkar highlighted that the Education Working Group under India's presidency is working collectively to underline the common realities and reiterate common commitments for joint action to improve the reach, quality and outcomes of education.
Sarkar noted that today's world is witnessing megatrends such as Artificial Intelligence, Industry 4.0 and Web 3.0, which will significantly impact the workplace. To adapt to this emerging work ecosystem, he said, youth need to be equipped with the necessary skills and attitudes.
He called upon everyone to collaborate to develop sustainable solutions to our shared problems. He asked to harness our collective expertise and build robust research and innovation ecosystems, to achieve societal benefits.
The meeting was preceded by a seminar on the topic 'Building Capacities, Promoting Life-Long Learning in the context of Future of Work' held at the Institute of Material and Mineral Technology (CSIR-IMMT) in collaboration with the Ministry of Skill, Development and Entrepreneurship. Along with the seminar, a week-long multimedia exhibition was also organised on the sidelines. The exhibition was inaugurated by Union Minister of Education Dharmendra Pradhan.
Leading up to the meeting a series of precursor events which included seminars, panel discussions and workshops on the theme of life-long learning and the future of work were organised.
The seminar saw participation from academia, industry, the government and Singapore High Commission. The discussions were on the topics 'Deep Tech with a focus on advanced technology in future of work', 'Transforming Logistics - focus on coastal areas economies' and 'Skill Architecture and Governance Models - Learnings from Singapore Model'.
To involve the youth, a chain of month-long 'Jan Bhagidari' events were organised starting from 'Utakal Dibasa' or 'Odisha Day' on April 1 were organised in Odisha.
According to the Ministry of Education, these events are also an attempt to create awareness around the ongoing 3rd EdWG meeting in Bhubaneswar. Under the initiative, various competitions and activities involving the youth such as, awareness rallies, marathon, essay writing, rangoli making, yoga sessions, quiz, debate, elocution and Mock G20 were organised across the 30 districts of the state. The campaign witnessed around 1 lakh plus participation from 35 institutions across Odisha, said the Ministry statement.