Development of cognitive skills is vital

Cognitive skills in children responsible for learning and problem solving skills can be divided in two buckets: memory and recall skills, also called Lower Order Thinking Skills, and comprehension, critical thinking, creative thinking and logical thinking, also known as Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS).

HOTS enhances a child's ability to learn and solve new problems, gives students an edge and would help them succeed in future. But why do we need to talk about this now?

Cognitive ability serves as a tool for enhanced job performance. According to a report, at least 80% of the Fortune 500 companies globally use cognitive and IQ tests during the hiring process.

Most competitive/ entrance exams today are focused on assessing these skills rather than subject knowledge. Exams such as LSAT have a higher weightage of critical thinking whereas some others like GMAT and SAT have a more well-rounded assessment. The reason why core cognitive abilities are tested is because the individuals with higher levels of cognitive ability acquire new information more easily and more quickly, and are able to use that information more effectively to solve new problems.

The World Economic Forum in its Future of Jobs Report lists top skills as complex problem solving, critical thinking and creativity. These skills would be the most important skills for people to do well at the workplace in future. Most careers involving repetitive tasks would be taken by machines in the forthcoming years, leaving complex tasks to humans.

Whenever a student is learning something new, they can operate at various levels of learning, as explained in the famous Bloom’s Taxonomy of Learning. First comes the ability to remember and recall the information, and then there’s the ability to use that information productively to solve problems, make decisions and create new work. All these skills, other than memory and recall, are called 'Higher Order Thinking Skills' and are largely responsible for making a student a smarter learner and adept problem solver.

Cognition is formed relatively early in life and becomes less malleable as children age. It’s essential for parents to encourage cognitive development in their child at an early age itself. The core aptitude of a person which defines one’s suitability for different career roles, is pretty much defined in the first 12-13 years. Most parents want to invest in 'future skills' through these early years.

In order to foster cognitive development in children, firstly parents should actively engage in quality conversations with their children. This will help them identify if the child is struggling with learning, reading, attention or memory and hence work towards strengthening those skills with training.

The best way to develop cognitive skills in this age is to give them structured stimulus in respective areas of comprehension, critical thinking, logical thinking, creativity and problem solving. Moreover, encouraging creative play and providing students with educational toys and games will help in enhancing cognitive skills. A child’s progress can be seen when a child is becoming an active reader where they are able to connect the elements, make predictions and inferences. Kids who are trained in Higher Order Thinking Skills are able to solve problems across analytical subjects such as Mathematics, Science and Technology.

If kids don’t get the requisite inputs to develop these skills, they get used to learning and solving problems by rote. Most students who do not develop these skills in the elementary years, rely on rote memorisation as a primary method of learning and solving problems. Such students struggle to do well in high stake exams and eventually in evolving jobs.

Therefore, it has become the need of the hour to prepare students for future jobs.

(The author is an entrepreneur)