10 Most Important Skills For Students

As times get advanced, the skills expected from a student also increase in technicality and usefulness. Having the basic ability to read, write and talk would be sufficient in the early stages of school. However, only these skills do not suffice later in the higher grades where there are increased amounts of skill-based and application-based subjects. Here are 10 most important skills for students to ace their higher grades in school, as well as college.

Time Management

It is necessary for a student to have sufficient time in the day to conclude all the school and college duties, and then also have time to play, leisure, or rest. In order to manage that, maintaining and following a proper schedule is important. This can prevent procrastination and ensure that all the various tasks in the day are completed on time.

Personal Budget Management

Even if you are a school student, managing your budget is crucial as it helps with savings. Doing it right from the beginning can form a healthy pattern and habit of managing your budget later in life as well. All an individual needs for this is a pen and paper to keep track of their expenses weekly or monthly. After that, they can look back at it themselves and check the expenses made that were unnecessary, and avoid them the next time.

Communication Skills

Engaging with teachers, faculty, other students, etc. is an irreplaceable part of a student’s life. Communication skills included verbal, as well as written communication too. Clear and effective writing skills are required to write letters, assignments, papers, etc., and efficient verbal skills are necessary for presentations, speeches, and even regular conversations. These skills may indirectly or even directly impact one’s grades or marks, hence brushing them up and practising these skills is a must.

Critical Thinking

Writing critical essays or papers, or simply analyzing something critically as a part of an assignment is prevalent in the education sector. These are done to test an individual’s critical thinking skills. These skills help students identify the different flaws in an academic piece, and give them the ability to question why certain phenomena are the way they are. This helps in their own, personal learning experience.

Co-operation and Teamwork Skills

It is a given that if one is going to an educational institute, they will have to engage in several team or group activities. These activities are not always limited to pure academics, but also to extracurricular, like different clubs, campus groups, sports teams, etc. Working in a group often requires patience, and tolerance for other people’s opinions, as it is nearly impossible to group with like-minded individuals always. Hence, having the ability to blend in and co-operate with others is important.

Creativity

There are hundreds and thousands of students in an academic facility and while each student is unique, there has to be a way of showcasing that uniqueness in some way or the other. Creativity does not always have anything to do with artsy subjects, it could simply be creatively writing an essay or picking a different topic for a project. Although creativity is more of a subjective skill, it still exists in everyone and can simply be finished by learning and practice.

Decision Making Skills

Every choice made in school or college plays a huge part in one’s life. It can be as small as picking an elective subject or selecting an extracurricular activity, or as major as picking what subjects you want to study, your major, etc. These decisions most times are irreversible due to various circumstances, hence, a lot of consideration and thought needs to be put into these before making a decision. Here is where the decision-making skills come into play. They help in understanding what would be the better alternative, the pros and the cons of picking one option over the other, and so on, which makes it easier to reach a certain decision.

Digital Literacy

After the pandemic, using online mediums to study has become prevalent and very well-known to almost everyone with access to a device. However, that should not be the only place where one should restrict their digital knowledge. It is always in the best interest of the student to know the basics of operating the internet, how to use Microsoft Office and Google Workplace software, etc. These not only help in making the learning experience in school or college better, but they are also beneficial later in life for internships and jobs.

Emotional Intelligence 

While intelligence may determine one’s grades and exam scores and is important for academic growth, emotional intelligence is equally important, if not more for the overall progress of an individual. It helps sustain friendships and other relationships that are crucial in one’s life. Emotional intelligence also helps in being empathetic towards others and looking at things from different perspectives. This also helps with academics as the student becomes better aware of their surroundings and learn from that.

Stress Management

With the amount of work and activities that come with being in a school or college, it is natural to develop some amount of stress. However, stress can be of two types: one that causes extreme anxiety due to which an individual cannot perform well, and the other that helps motivate an individual to finish off a task and perform well. Understanding the root cause of your stress is step one in managing it. The next is to have an elaborate breakdown of what can be done in that certain situation, and then calmly act towards it. There have been many cases in which stress directly affects a student’s performance, hence stress management is necessary.

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