Skills- what is the starting point?

In this era of technology, it is becoming much more demanding for our students to be proficient in not only what is expected but over and above it, hence the expectation from teachers has increased as well. However, when it comes to skills we need to identify the starting and core requirements. I feel schools emphasis a lot on functional skills followed by technology skills and then work skills but what about basic cognitive skills there is no structured curriculum or program to support students on that. I wonder if with technology we can find a way to support our students in what is the foundation of not only everything they do but also how they feel about themselves in every challenge they take.