It has been a challenging year for students, educators and parents no matter which state you’re from. Internationally, education institutions are facing unprecedented disruption with travel bans and more lockdowns. As we enter the final stages of 2020, all Australian’s should be proud of the efforts and sacrifices we’ve made. The news however is littered with the next wave of challenges we face, trade disputes, international inquiries and economic reports which all point to 2021 being a year of dramatic change. As with any change, it is uncomfortable and often we need to stretch outside of our comfort zone to realise the opportunities this change presents. If there’s one thing that I’ve taken from this pandemic, and the force of its disruption, it is the reminder that we’re all a part of a highly interconnected system, that is far from invulnerable.
As you may know, we started our journey four years ago, with myself joining the business in September 2019. The vision was and still is to improve the career education outcomes for all Australians, however just as schools have had to change their approach to delivering education, we have had to move just as fast to keep pace with the new demands and be mindful of the new constraints, especially time. In 2020, we reached out to over 900 secondary schools across Australia. We heard the challenges firsthand from educators and career advisors whose efforts this year have been nothing short extraordinary. Digitisation is here to stay, 2021 will undoubtably see the rise of blended learning environments, micro-credentialling, skills based learning, remote parent conferences and a stronger focus on self-directed learning for students.
These new demands will need smart learning systems, beyond what schools have traditionally had available to them. This is where are platform will help, by capturing and presenting information in meaningful workflows, with adaptability and security at the centre of everything we build. Our goal is to work with over 50 schools next year in co-development of the next-generation of Career Education software. Our scope is not limited to education pathways to university pathways or vocational studies. Instead our platform needs to extend beyond that into industry, promoting internships, essential skills and validated credentialling that moves beyond the traditional resume.
This year we released our paper, which started our Developing Future-Ready students’ conversation. We discuss these new requirements in 5 Principles a school needs to adopt to transition their careers program, and drive the change. We’re proud to have the opportunity to capture the thoughts, feedback and ideas of Career Advisors across Australia, and share this as a guide to not only the challenges we face, but the opportunities we see as well. In order to achieve our vision, we need to be more than a software platform, we need to create a movement to promote systemic change and we know this starts with Careers.
We wish you a safe and happy time during the holidays and look forward to working with you in the new year.