Wanted: Real Thinkers – Educators need to reshape learning

EDUCATORS in Asia needs to shape what is taught in the classroom to suit the context of today’s environment, says Indian industrialist and co-founder of Infosys, Narayana Murthy . . .

HONG KONG — Education will provide the key to how Asia adapts to rapid changes engulfing the global economy, and the extent to which Asia is able to maintain growth and market share, according to Narayana Murthy, billionaire co-founder of India’s largest IT services firm, Infosys.
He says children have to be taught to be problem solvers and problem definers in school. “We need to look at our education system so that we can produce independent thinkers,” he told ATI.
Looking forward 10 years from now, Murthy says: “I would say it will be all about automation – more use of robotics, remote surgery and so on.  It will be about the Internet of Things.”
(The Internet of Things is the interconnection of uniquely identifiable embedded computing devices within the existing Internet
infrastructure.)
Murthy says the concern of business leaders is how to differentiate themselves from their competitors. Many more software products will come into play.
But it will be services that help companies, he says, because if two corporations have the same software, the only way they can succeed in the market place is to create differentiation.
“For every dollar spent on SAP (systems
operating products), two dollars will be spent on services to layer customisation around (the product).  No matter what technology comes into play, every corporation will need to create differentiation from competitors through unique business tools.”
And this is where having the right people will start to matter.
“By and large, our education system in Asia is focussed on learning — and that is the biggest problem facing Asia,” Murthy says.
“We have to produce graduates capable of independent thinking, able to be proactive in problem solving. We need problem definers as well as problem solvers. We need people who can come up with new ideas.
 Says the man sometimes described as the founder of India’s IT sector: “I believe it is necessary for the education system in Asia to shape what is taught in classrooms to suit the context of today’s environment and to train children to define new problems.” Murthy says that, so far, only Singapore has made a start towards this direction.
He sees different roles for small economies like Singapore and Hong Kong, which are more suited to handling (technology) products as
opposed to software development.
In response to questions from ATI, Murthy said a product is about an idea, it is about distribution, it is about support, and therefore both Singapore and Hong Kong are well-placed —and they are very good at it.
But as the world moves more into automation and the Internet of Things, Murthy says, Singapore and Hong Kong will have to develop new skills. They need to produce a new crop of workers, capable of defining and solving problems. That, however, can only come from shifting away from learning by rote.
India and China are ideal candidates, he says, to become global software services countries.
“You need a lot of people to develop customised pieces of software on a large scale. To be able to do this well, you need to have large populations, and both India and China have the people.  But to be successful, they need to create infrastructure and make sure that they are connected with corporations around the world.
Currently, China has a drawback, he says, because the use of English is not universal there. “I think if China becomes more familiar with English, it will have a great opportunity.”
Talent is excellent in China, says Murthy.
Infosys employs 4,000 engineers in China at offices in Shanghai, Beijing, Dalian and Hangzhou. “Our China offices service the requirements of our international customers. We also handle the needs of multinationals clients in China, as well as supporting our Chinese
clients,” says Murthy.
While China’s contribution to the group’s
annual revenue of US$9 billion is still small,
China will become more important to Infosys in future, he says. But recasting the emphasis on education in China and all of Asia will be an important key to unlock the potential of a world increasingly driven by technology on the back of the internet.