Life skills education essential to youth

I am a staunch advocate not only for education, teaching and learning, but for the concept and practical application that education is continuously evolving, not to be restrained by a “this is how it’s always been done” philosophy or perspective.
One of my key concerns is how well we, the education sector, are preparing students for the future, for the demands of family, relationships, respect, communication, school, community, study, choices, technology, society, workplace, finance, healthcare, old age and pensions, life balance, and resilience in the face of adversity. These are all, as recent research has shown, indicated areas where college and secondary age students, Year 11 and beyond, have themselves identified individual shortcomings.
Perhaps too, therein lies the crux of the problem. Maybe we are so busy having regard to the needs of some individual students that we neglect the essential needs of the wider group. As such, it’s where teachers are caught between a rock and a hard place in terms of where we see our priorities, and the truth is that we will get that ‘right’ as often as we get it ‘not so right.’ We can’t win, given that classroom numbers, which hover around the thirties, are too unwieldy to properly implement differentiation, which is the different ways to teach different students the same thing, depending upon their needs.
Parenting is not given the same value and guidance within the home as it has been done historically, or as it should be done to inspire a greater degree of respect. The wise Confucius said, “If you respect yourself, others will respect you,” and certainly, at school, we see far too little to accept that the home environment is either enriching or respectful.
Relationships and communication go hand in hand with respect, as learning when to listen and when to speak is the framework for understanding others and supports lifelong soft skills. Those qualities carry forward too in understanding the roles we all must fulfil in our communities initially, and societies eventually, as we determine not what they can do for us, but what we can do for them. This is where our faith, and our level of respect for others, lead us towards good decisions.
Speaking of decisions and choices, beyond school, study and technology are upon our youth almost too soon. However, such is life, and I find myself inspired by the way the New Zealand education sector is looking to the future in making nine different industry-led subjects available for study, “to create pathways that suit their interests, strengths and aspirations,” being Applied Intelligent Systems; Construction and Built Environment; Energy and Infrastructure; Engineering Technology; Food and Fibre Systems; Health Services and Care; Hospitality Food and Beverage; Next-Gen Manufacturing, and finally, Tourism. These are ‘live’ opportunities for the contemporary student, practical and intellectual, with genuine workplace opportunities in growth sectors.
Getting a job itself is not easy, but without the ability to communicate effectively, work well with others, and resilience, keeping it is almost impossible, simply because nothing comes easily, and life has a habit of biting you when you least expect it. The good news is that you will be an earner, therefore a consumer, a spender, and banks will love you!
But according to the Santander Banking Group (Jan, 2025), “79 per cent of students have never created a budget; 76 per cent have never paid a bill; 77 per cent have no meaningful savings; and incredibly, a third of young adults turn to influencers and TikTok for financial advice.” The need for enhanced healthcare, pension matters, and old age sneak up on you, trust me, and unless you get your ‘ducks in a row,’ early in life, your quality of life, later in life, will probably not be what you deserve.
I’m a firm advocate that schools and colleges could do better in prioritising these soft and life skills, earlier, while the kids are active, sponge-like learners. Life skills fill the space between knowledge and survival, enhancing your quality of life.

Ray Petersen The writer is a media consultant