3 minute read
Is education the answer to the biggest challenges facing the planet? Ivan Vassiliev
The first project was launched in Ghana with the intention to provide equal opportunities for women to flourish in an everchanging market.
Is education the answer to the biggest challenges facing the planet?
Ivan Vassiliev on the struggle of providing a basic education for all
Imagine a world where geniuses from not just a handful of rich countries shape the destiny of the planet, but where great minds from every corner are able to contribute to the biggest challenges facing us today; from the environment to fresh water access, and agriculture. A world like that is possible, and it starts by providing access to basic education that allows individuals from demographics that may not previously have had the opportunity, to develop themselves quickly and with a specific focus on enabling them to join the global conversation.
This doesn’t mean that everyone has to pursue advanced academic endeavours. With all the technological advances on the horizon and the automation of many jobs, the defining skills will be those that cater to and support the human experience. The most quintessentially human of qualities will be those that stand out. The skills required are the kind that are often taken for granted in the developed world; English, communication, basics of customer service and interaction in a system that is so ingrained, familiar, and natural to many of us, it’s hard to imagine it not being so for most of us.
Imagine a woman from Ghana, a country where over half the women are still illiterate having had access to only preschool, if any, education. What would it mean to this woman
The programme is already helping over 20 women from Ghana and Armenia break into the hospitality industry.
if she had the opportunity to learn practical, transferable skills in an international setting? What could she do with this? How could she change her life? How could she develop her country? Our organisation has been fortunate enough to witness first-hand the answer to some of these questions. We’ve worked with women from Ghana to develop their skills through an online platform that gives access to language and work-based skills such as conflict resolution and customer service. These candidates have then been placed in 5-star hotels in an international tourism hub, Dubai, for ‘on the job’ training in various departments. During their placement the candidates have been able to learn and apply their skills, earning their opportunity and having the chance to prove their capability. From working in housekeeping to a busy kitchen, interacting with colleagues and guests from all over the world, the skills they learned have helped them envision a new future.
We’ve heard first-hand how the candidates feel empowered by their learning, how this has helped them feel more confident in taking on new responsibilities. We’ve seen enthusiasm blossom as they understand that they now have opportunities that they can take back to Ghana to meaningfully contribute to the country’s burgeoning hospitality sector. The skills that they’ve learned have set the foundation for them to be able to lead the hospitality sector back home, and colour it with their experience not just as women of the country, but also as internationally experienced hosts.
And we understand the benefit that this can have for their children and the next generation. Hospitality is often the catalyst for an international movement to a nation, and when done correctly – considerate of the guests and in line with the nation’s rich history – then many other opportunities can grow. The important thing is that they are prepared when opportunity knocks. Hospitality may seem a million miles from real development that a country needs to make the changes required, but consider that Dubai started with only this, and a few decades later it has launched a space programme.
What we see is not a silver bullet but faith in the seeds of potential that, when sown in people, we know will lead to them accomplishing great things for themselves first, and their countries after. Nothing happens in isolation, and the next big challenges that face us could have their solution locked away in the mind of someone who just needs the chance to have their voice heard. Albert Einstein worked in a patent office, and his greatest ideas could have stayed there in obscurity if he had not had the opportunity to share his ideas with great institutions of learning so that the world eventually listened. Imagine how many ‘Einsteins’ are out there in the world, unable to share their voice due to lack of opportunity and a platform.
