Experiential learning creates environments in which the learner can apply existing knowledge while developing new knowledge and skills in a practical context. Experiential learning must start in the primary school. Even today after five decades of my life I remember a trip our school had organized to a sugar factory in Theur near Pune. We were in standard three then. Sugarcane was pounded to extract the juice and then boiling down the juice in form of syrup for several hours to get jaggery.  

We were taught civic sense by making us control traffic at different junctions, we were made to plant trees inside and outside Pune Aakasjwani and meteorology department at Shivaji Nagar Pune. We would visit those offices twice a week to water the plants, to take care of the plants. We had very good teachers for language, maths and drawing. We had bakery class from 6^th standard, we hand stitching class which was compulsory. I studied in cohead Marathi Medium school named Bharat English School, Shivaji Nagar, Pune. 7^th standard onwards we were taught to collect data from green grocers, farmers, police, doctors, lawyers about intricacies about their professions. We celebrated different festivals for knowing our culture. 

Great poets such as Vinda Karanadikar, Shanta Shelke, author Va Pu Kale, mathematician D.R.Koperkar  visited our school and we have heard poetries and prose straight from the horse’s mouth.   Students from lower financial strata came to my school, it was not a famous school, but our principal used his contacts and brough great Marathi scholars to our school. My school developed a good educational system that delivered higher-order goals, such as the encouragement to grow in life, good attitudes and a sense of morality, justice, and optimism, which is quite challenging endeavour.

It is a mix of traditional and experiential education which can prepare students for real life in today’s VUCA world. Today, because of noncognitive skills which are called “soft skills” such as motivation, integrity, negotiation skills, team building, and interpersonal interaction the students get ready to face the complex world. Soft skills are associated with an individual’s personality, temperament, and attitudes. People have forgotten using pleasantries, manners etiquette etc. Non-cognitive skills, significantly complement and enhance the confidence of students which are often neglected. The most prominent non-cognitive skills include openness to experience, conscientiousness, extroversion, amiability, and emotional intelligence. These skills have a strong ability to withstand adversities and to predict long-term outcomes from life.

At the primary education level, experiential learning can involve interactive activities, educational games, field trips, and experiments that allow young learners to explore concepts through hands-on experiences. These experiences spark curiosity, promote engagement, and lay the foundation for future learning.

In India, the focus on exam-oriented education has restrained students’ innate curiosity and suppress their ability to explore, innovate, and discover. The pressure to conform to a predetermined path can leave students feeling trapped, unable to pursue their passions or talents beyond the prescribed curriculum. People must flourish in their career, enjoy what they are doing. This rarely happens. 

In the age of information, the dynamic nature of workforces has undergone constant and consistent transformations to adjust to the advances in technology, a global pandemic, and an ever-evolving workplace. The pandemic drove a new chapter in learning, as students from across the world took to digital platforms to finish coursework and learn new skills. Meanwhile, a key concern that found credibility on a global scale was the gaps left by traditional education in the employability of a graduate. Post-secondary education, aimed at training masses to become employable, has long needed an upgrade to serve the true requirements of evolving industries. Every industry currently experiences rapid transitions internally to cope with the advancements in technology, and methods of doing business are more transient than they ever were.

Most universities have curriculums that don’t match what today’s industries need. Students are often taught old or irrelevant syllabi.  When these students graduate, they find that their knowledge doesn’t fit the requirements of modern jobs. This mismatch creates high amount of unemployment in India.

In beginning in the 1970s, David A. Kolb helped develop the modern theory of experiential learning, drawing heavily on the work of John Dewey, Kurt Lewin, and Jean Piaget. In France, the educators are constantly concerned about the danger of being labelled as irrelevant in today’s educational climate that focuses attention on the importance of science, technology, and professional career preparation. French universities have been successful at promoting a synergy between the traditional and the professional education. The goal is not to do battle between competing ideas, but rather to increase the value of both through interdisciplinary partnerships.

The challenges that we often face in India is while building meaningful collaborations with industry, university and government. We must overcome it.  Interdisciplinary learning encourages students to reflect critically on every new idea or issue they encounter, considering it from multiple perspectives.

Experiential learning is learning through reflection on doing. It focuses on the learning process for the individual. An internship in company where a student goes through sales training in which he learns how to handle customers and preparing bills. By sitting in classroom and reading sales management and accounting from books and lectures he can only imagine, but during internship he gets hand on experience.  Apprenticeships, externships, fellowships, field work, internships, workshops, seminars etc are part of experiential learning.

Experiential learning encourages students to learn from their mistakes and fosters a sense of self-confidence and continuous learning. Finally, experiential learning promotes innovation, creativity, and problem-solving skills, as students are actively engaged in project-based learning and problem-solving activities. In contrast, traditional learning typically relies on lectures and textbooks to convey information and may not provide the same level of engagement, practical application, and skill development.

In Japan a model of teacher-led research in which a group of teachers collaborate to target a particular area for development in their students’ learning. Based on their prior teaching, the group of teachers work together to research, plan, teach and observe a series of lessons, using ongoing discussion, reflection and expert input to monitor and improve their teaching.

There is vast difference in teachers with industry experience and teachers with degrees teaching in higher education. Teachers with industry experience bring practicality in teaching. Today Universities need experts in board of studies to upgrade syllabi every two-three year as the world is changing too fast. Knowing the academic side is only half the battle: understanding how those skills get used in the real world gives vital context and often makes things make more sense, it provides the reality that supplements the textbook versions of the same fields.

The real world is all about learning by making mistakes. While more traditional learning methods might end with a test or a graded paper, experiential learners do find themselves encountering holdups, yet they grow from them in many ways.

The Global Competitiveness Report began as a research project by Professor Klaus Schwab. He is a German engineer and economist, best known as the founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum.  In 1979 he designed a report to measure and analyse competitiveness of 16 European countries. The study was based on Schwab’s innovative concept of competitiveness, which extended beyond the traditional notion of labor and capital productivity. That year, of the 200 indicators selected for the Forum’s first competitiveness index, 50 were derived from a survey.

The survey was mailed out in English, French, and German to potential respondents throughout Europe, mainly Chief Executive or Chief Planning Officers of European companies; Managing Directors of subsidiaries of US companies operating in these 16 countries, leading representatives of industrial and employers’ associations, labor unions, economic and social institutes; university faculties of economics or business administration; and the economic media. Median values were calculated for each question and by country. In parallel, Forum researchers visited statistical offices and ministries in order to gather relevant quantitative data. The report was finalized in November 1979. The report was the first attempt to support policymakers and business leaders in their efforts to formulate improved economic policies and institutional reforms.

Thirty five years down, in 2004, WEF (World Economic Forum) started regular practice of ranking the economies to reignite economic growth. The Global Competitiveness Report is a tool to help governments, the private sector and civil society work together to boost future prosperity. Comparative analysis between countries allows leaders to measure areas that need strengthening and build a coordinated response. It also helps identify best practice in various nations in the world. The Index measures how productively a country uses available resources.

At present the Global Competitiveness Report has grown to cover over 140 economies to assess the key drivers of development. The methodology behind the analysis has been improved over the years in order to reflect the newest thinking in matters of economic growth. In parallel to this development of the index, the original survey has evolved and is today known as the Executive Opinion Survey (the Survey). Over the years, it has undergone a number of revisions and audits, which have enabled an improved administration process and methodology. The Survey has grown in scope, too. It now includes over 140 questions distributed in 14 sections.

The 12 pillars of competitiveness are grouped under three sub-indexes according to three main development phases: basic requirements, efficiency enhancers and innovation and sophistication factors. Depending on each country’s stage of development, weightage is added to the sub-indexes. Here are the 12 pillars of competitiveness that WEF uses to rank nations according to productivity and prosperity.

Pillar one is Institutions: The way institutions are managed, has a direct link to a nation’s level of competence. Efficient management of both private and government institutions is the basis of business environment. Good business practices combined with ethics and corporate governance guarantee success. Physical security and independent judiciary provide the fundamental protection of intellectual property rights (IPR).

Pillar two is Infrastructure: Infrastructure includes connectivity like road, rail, ports, electricity and telecommunications. These are fundamental to economic development and growth. Because of connectivity an economy opens to outside world, trade and commerce will flourish. Quality and quantity of infrastructure decides a nation’s level of productivity.

Pillar three is Macroeconomic Environment: Macroeconomic stabilization is a condition in which a complex framework for monetary and fiscal institutions and policies is established to reduce volatility and encourage welfare-enhancing growth. Inflation, price levels, rate of growth, national income, gross domestic product and changes in unemployment are some vital macroeconomic indicators of a nation.

Pillar four is Health and Primary Education: Education is fundamental to development and growth. The human mind can achieve advancements in healthcare, agricultural innovations to efficient public administration and private sector growth. Education helps to unleash progress of human. Health of people also makes an important contribution to economic progress; healthy populations live longer, are more productive, and save more. Clean environment, peace of mind, non corrupt government administration is some factors to provide good health for its people.

Pillar five is Higher Education and Training: High education and technical skills are crucial for the growth of an economy. Progressive nations therefore invest more in higher education and skill development. Higher educational facilities and on-the-job training can only assure growth as a nation moves up the ladder. Human capacity development is enhanced through quality education at many levels, including primary, secondary, technical and vocational, and higher education.  As the world is growing more complex, higher education is an increasingly more critical pillar for human capacity development.

Pillar six is Goods Market Efficiency: A successful economy has to market its products and services worldwide. Growth depends on open markets and liberal marketing policies. Domestic and foreign competitiveness demands good marketing efficiency. It ensures the planned economic growth in the developing economy where the scarcity of goods, services, ideas and excessive unemployment, thereby marketing efforts are needed for mobilization of economic resources for additional production of ideas, goods and services resulting in greater employment.

Pillar seven is Labour Market Efficiency: Productivity depends on the quality of labour. Trained, organized and sincere workers are extremely important for organizational growth.  A nation with a large scale of unemployment will never progress. The business environment has to assure promotion and development to the workers. Nations which promote gender parity have grown faster. Job market needs to be efficient and flexible.  Skilled labour is always in demand.

Pillar eight is Financial Market Development: The financial system comprises all financial markets, instruments and institutions. The financial system is particularly important in reallocating capital and thus providing the basis for the continuous restructuring of the economy that is needed to support growth. In countries with a highly developed financial system, we observe that, a greater share of investment is allocated to relatively fast growing sectors. The banking system has to support business by channelling the resources saved by its people. Efficiency, stability, reliability and credibility of the financial system are crucial for the economy. Transparency and efficiency help in financial market development.

Pillar nine is Technological Readiness: Technology transfer and development is vital to the process of transforming economies to enable inclusive growth within the framework of sustainable development and poverty eradication. The definition of technology readiness is the set of capacities to plan for, catalyse, sustain, and monitor and report on technology transfer and development in ways that are fully integrated with national development priorities. In today’s world, technological readiness can only ensure quality and quantity of production and service.

Pillar ten is Market Size: Large markets without entry barriers allow faster growth. Both domestic and foreign markets are considered for the market size. Market sizing gives the business a sense of market trends. It gives clue on the necessary drivers of demand, as market movements often continue in one direction or another for a period of time. What’s more, those trends often indicate whether substitutions are available and whether that could potentially affect market size.

Pillar eleven is Business Sophistication: The eleventh pillar of GCI is sophistication in business practices that improve efficiency of production of goods and services. Sophistication is a key factor for innovation-driven economy and concerns the quality of a country’s overall business networks, as well as the quality of operations and strategy of individual firms. This pillar indicates local supplier’s quantity and quality, business cluster development, nature of competitive advantage, value chain width, control of international distribution etc.

Pillar twelve is Innovation: High competitiveness needs technological innovation. Advanced countries invest more in developing technologies. But other nations too can improve their productivity by making incremental improvements. Fundamentally, there are only two ways of increasing the output of the economy: (1) increase the number of inputs that go into the productive process, or (2) think of new ways in which you can get more output from the same number of inputs. Innovation drives the economic growth faster in people management, money management, processes management, materials management practically every aspect off business.

India’s ranking:

The most recent 2017-2018 edition of Global Competitiveness Report assesses 137 economies. This graph provides the latest reported value for – India Competitiveness Rank – plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news. The actual data, historical chart and calendar of releases were last updated in May 2018.

Globally, Switzerland ranks at top for past six years. In 2018 at number two stands United States, at third position Netherlands, fourth Germany and fifth United Kingdom.

India has a long way to go.