At the Deans Summit 2019, Samyak Chakrabarthy, the managing director of X Billion Labs, shared his experience of working with the underprivileged youth and his views on the future of education in India.
Samyak Chakrabarthy, a social entrepreneur, is listed by Forbes as one of Asia's most influential under 30-year olds.
About X Billion Labs
It is an ecosystem of impact enterprises, building platforms for India’s next billion to access the 21st century version of basic necessities to lead a meaningful life. Samyak founded X Billion Labs to address the issue of unemployability in India.
It started when he adopted a school in the slums of Mumbai. During this time, he worked with students and to his surprise, discovered that one-third of the students possessed ‘natural intelligence’. He referred to ‘natural intelligence’ as that which is related to one’s IQ. Samyak started the ‘Green Batti’ project to bring the world of mentoring to these youths and overcame the constraints of low income and lack of access to opportunities. As a result, the project provided him with the learning and insight into the minds of young people. And this led to the idea and founding of X Billion Labs.
Through the off-beat path he took in his life, and the choices he made in his life, he shared his journey with the audience of deans and academics. He highlighted how the education landscape, and more importantly, the educators can adjust their approach to mold students into the skilled talent of the future. Additionally, he pointed to the skills and training needed for today’s youth to feel ready and empowered to take on the jobs of the future, thereby overcoming the 'skills gap'.
“To solve the problem, you need to transform the curriculum to focus on the students’ natural intelligences which are there in all of us, and mold them into a workplace context.”
As Samyak opened up to the educators about the need to switch over to a more practical approach to education and imparting the skills needed, he left the audience with a drive to wake up to the need of transformation in learning, as a result, contributing to enhancing employability.
About Deans Summit
Every year, Deloitte hosts an event, called ‘Deans Summit’, which engages in conversation with the academic leaders representing the Indian universities and institutions. This year, with the theme focusing on the future of work, skills and talent, Deloitte invited a host of speakers belonging to different generations. They shared their views and expectations of the changing asks of the education system in India, and how the education industry can bridge the gap by reevaluating the training on the skills needed for the jobs of tomorrow.
Learn more
To know more about the Deans Summit, visit the university relations page.
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About the speaker:
Samyak Chakrabarthy is the managing director of X Billion Labs. He is a social entrepreneur, and is listed by Forbes as one of Asia's most influential under 30-year olds.