Explained: The trend of ‘upskilling’ courses

Upskilling is not a very new term, but new enough not to be part of MS Word yet! While upskilling courses for working professionals became a common corporate term in 1978 and entered the Oxford English Dictionary in 1983, it continued being applied only to office workers till this century. Upskilling courses for school and college students gained ground over the last decade. In 2020, with massive changes happening due to the pandemic, it became a strong trend, and is booming in 2021.  

But what are upskilling courses?  
Upskilling is a continuous process where an individual keeps acquiring new and relevant skills that are up to date. Some of the common examples include digital skills (hardware and software), analytics skills, technical and mechanical skills, and even soft skills. An upskilling course provides the learner an advanced and updated version of what they already know to make them better workers. It means those who take up the course are willing to increase their knowledge base for something that they feel can be a potential strength.  

Examples of upskilling courses for kids  
There are many introductory courses on basic hardware and electronics for school kids. On completing one of these, if the child feels a deeper interest, he or she may want to upskill using Arduino or any other hardware / electronics kit, and then move to the next level of trying to make their own circuit boards.  

Another example – a pre-teen student who has discovered love for music – may take up a course outside the school curriculum that teaches playing the guitar professionally. So upskilling is not about the subject or school syllabus, it’s about what an individual may want to take up as a career.  

Why has upskilling become an important trend?  
Developments in the field of education are moving faster than ever before, keeping pace with digital technology, changes in lifestyle and changed requirements in almost all walks of life from health to entertainment. The new slogan is: upskill or disappear. No one wants outdated products or services. The upskilling course boom is reflecting that. The emphasis is on creating curious rather than studious pupils, who would be open to life-long learning and upgrading to deliver their level best.