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Wide gaps, between what we are taught and what we are expected to do at work, are stubbornly entrenched in India’s talent ecosystem. It’s a historical burden: sharply evident today, and accelerated by the turbulent storms of technological shifts, workplace disruptions and structural changes in the nature of jobs.

India’s unemployment rate at 7.2 percent has more to do with a lack of skills versus a lack of opportunities. The Indian education system continues to focus on theoretical knowledge rather than imparting skill-based education. No wonder college graduates find it difficult to crack job interviews right from the get-go! Equally, recruiters are frustrated that they are not able to find enough young talent that is workplace ready.

While we continue to lament India’s unskilled/unemployable youth, what we rarely do is bring job creators and providers together with the educators and academics on a single platform. Edtech startup Harappa has announced Bridge—a first-of-its-kind, by invitation only forum—to meet this long-standing need.

The two-day multi-format online event is scheduled from August 18-19, 2021 from 2:30 PM to 7:30 PM. With this event, Harrapa plans to leverage the wealth of its L&D network spread across campuses, enterprises and professionals to initiate a conversation that will aim to address and create joint industry-academia solutions for India’s unemployability challenge.

Panel of stalwarts

The exclusive invite-only event will bring together more than 45 top industry leaders and academics to start conversations on themes such as the College-Workplace Continuum, The Art & Science Of Learning and The Education Enterprise. Industry stalwarts in the speaker panel include:

• Kumar Mangalam Birla – Chairman, Aditya Birla Group
• Deborah Quazzo – Managing Partner, GSV Ventures
• Laxman Narasimhan – Global CEO, Reckitt
• Rishikesha Krishnan – Director, IIM Bangalore
• Shubhrata Prakash – Executive Director, NITI Aayog
• Christopher Dede – Professor, Harvard University’s, Graduate School of Education
• Parmesh Shahani – Author, Queeristan & Corporate LGBTQ Inclusion Advocate, to name a few.

Highlighting the importance of a platform such as Bridge, Shreyasi Singh, Founder and CEO, Harappa, says, “For far too long, academia and industry have operated in silos, with little to no consensus on how to impactfully skill young talent for the workforce. As is signature Harappa, the highlight of this invite-only event will be incredible, engaging and articulate speakers who are unafraid to speak their mind, on the most crucial topics connecting the futures of work and education. I couldn’t be more excited for us to open up this much-needed conversation that everyone’s thinking about but no one is having!”

The speakers at Bridge will explore topics like:

• Unemployable Graduates: Who Is To Blame?
• Preparing Gen Z And Gen Alpha
• Content Is King, Context Is God
• The New Age Resume
• Higher Ed’s Future: Complimenting Work And Life, and more.

On the need for disruption and innovation in education, Pramath Raj Sinha, Founder and Chairman, Harappa, says, “Bridge has been an idea Shreyasi and I have discussed ever since Harappa launched—we have always wanted to create a platform that brings together the audiences we work with; both academia and industry. We at Harappa are uniquely placed to do this and I am personally honoured to introduce you to this first-of-its-kind event.”

About Harappa

As a learner-centred institution, Harappa drives individual, institutional and organizational success driven using Thrive Skills (cognitive, social, behavioural) that enable professionals to succeed at every stage of their career. The event will encourage conversations that can lead to industry and academia supporting each other in finding solutions to India’s looming unemployability problems.

In its first-ever edition, Bridge will tap into difficult conversations addressing a range of issues surrounding academia-industry integration. The education-employability faultlines and the solutions will be delivered in innovative formats such as Solution Rooms, Colloquy, Keynotes and Huddles. From Q&A sessions to debates to group discussions, Bridge is here to set a precedent for compelling conversations and innovative solutions.

Leading industry leaders, academicians and senior talent leaders can now request an invite to attend the virtual event. Registrations are also open for members of the C-suite. Details of the event schedule, speakers and session formats are available on the official website  https://bit.ly/3jG9Iq9