What should we change in education to prepare youngsters for the future?

We have to move away from the factory model in education. This means the notion that one could organise all of the facts needed into a set body of knowledge and divide it up neatly into 10 or 12 years of schooling, doling out the information through graded textbooks and testing it regularly.

This has become outmoded as today, the nature of work and society is changing at breakneck speed, pushed along by the growth of new knowledge and technology.

A Berkeley University study found that between 1999 and 2002 - a three-year period - there was more new knowledge created in the world than in the entire history of the world before that time. And the amount of knowledge in technical fields is doubling every two years.

During much of the 20th century, most workers held two or three jobs during their lifetimes. However, today's workers will hold more than 10 jobs before they reach the age of 40.

The 10 jobs projected to be the most in-demand jobs in 2010 did not even exist in 2004.

Thus, the new mission of schools must be to prepare students to work at jobs that do not yet exist, creating ideas and solutions for products and problems that have not yet been identified, using technologies that have not yet been invented.

What new skills will be needed in this new economy?

It includes the ability to design, evaluate, and manage one's own work so that it continually improves.

Workers would also need to frame, investigate, and solve problems using a wide range of tools and resources.

They must also be able to find, analyse and use information for many purposes and collaborate strategically with others and communicate effectively in many forms.

As one of the international advisers to the National Institute of Education, how would you rate our school system?

Singapore had already ploughed headlong into the new model of education to prepare students for the future.

It has made strong, amazing educational progress.

Singapore has taken up the challenge of creating a 21st-century education system with as much enthusiasm and determination as anywhere in the world.

The eyes of the entire world have been on this process since Singapore students have demonstrated such high levels of excellence in the international assessments of mathematics and science over recent years.

Teacher quality has been key of course. Singapore has instituted some of the most progressive policies here to attract and retain good teachers.

In many respects, Singapore's work is a model for the world.

Some parents complain of what they see as constant tweaks to the education system here. What do you think of that?

Creating a dynamic learning environment that is always adapting and responding to new challenges has become a national quest in Singapore, and one that I greatly admire.

It is good to have change but when you attempt to reform a system, it is important that teachers are enabled to use the new curriculum materials, or to use whatever the new innovation that is to be introduced.

If not, even the best ideas will fail.

How crucial is a sound education system for the progress of a country?

As President Obama pointed out to American citizens, the source of America's prosperity - indeed the source of any nation's prosperity - is not how the country accumulates wealth, but how it educates its people.

As we deal with the effects of the monetary meltdown that became an economic tsunami, it is critical to realise that financial responses alone won't ultimately safeguard our economic and social well-being.

It is substantial, strategic investments in education that are essential to our long-term prosperity.

Education is no longer a pathway to success; it is a prerequisite.

This article was first published in The Straits Times.