Intellectuals around the world are discussing what will be the outcome of the tussle between Harvard University and US President Donald Trump. The US Federal Court has temporarily halted the Trump administration’s decision to stop the admission of international students. The decision by the Trump administration has left around 6,800 foreign students studying at Harvard anxious, out of which 750 are Indians. Trump has already declared his intention of stopping Harvard’s funding.
But, today we will not talk about the ongoing tussle between President Trump and the Harvard administration. Neither will we talk about politics nor diplomacy. Today, we will talk about an issue that is related to every household, which is related to both the present and future of the country.
We will talk about the education system and higher education. There are children aged between 14-15 years in every household, and they are often the focus of discussion from morning to evening. What will the child study further? Where will he get admission? If he gets admission, then where will the expenses of his studies come from? Will there be campus selection with the pass out or not? Results of class 10th and 12th of different boards have been declared in many states, and CBSE results are also out.
In Class 10th results, two lakh students achieved more than 90 percent marks and 1.2 lakh students scored more than 90 percent in class 12th board.
This implies that there is no dearth of talented students in the country. Many of the students must have dreams of studying in Harvard or Oxford Universities. Moving further, this year, more than twelve and a half lakh students appeared in JEE MAIN for admission in engineering, more than 20.8 lakh boys and girls appeared in NEET UG with the dream of becoming doctors. But how many of them will get admission in reputed government colleges is also not hidden from anyone.
What’s The Biggest Problem Of Parents?
In today’s time, the biggest problem before most parent is what to teach their children? Where to teach and how to teach so that their child has a good career. What is the status of degrees in our country? How many get a job or employment after passing out? Why is every second graduate in the country unemployed? How can this scenario be changed? Why is there so much competition to become an engineer or a doctor? Even if the child gets admission in a good college, what is the guarantee that he will secure a good job? The degree that is obtained after paying a hefty fee of lakhs will prove helpful in getting employment for how long? How much more expensive will education get in the future? What even if the degree is obtained?
How Many Students Graduate Every Year?
Does this question ever come to your mind that how many students graduate in our country every year? How many of them have a degree of doctor or engineer and a package of more than 10 lakh rupees per annum? How many Arts and Commerce graduates pass out every year, and how many of them get what jobs? There is no authentic data of the students who graduate every year. However, according to some studies, every year between 80 lakh to one crore students graduate. They study in college for three or four years with high hopes, give exams and pass with good marks, but even after that every second degree holder is empty handed.
Why is this so? If there is a problem in any course, then how is it still in the mainstream of our education system? There is a need to think on this question with seriousness that how many job opportunities are there for graduates in subjects like history, geography, sociology, philosophy, political science? How many will get selected in UPSC or PCS, and where will the rest go?
Are We Getting Employment As Per Our degrees?
How many youths will become lawyers, how many will get into politics? How many will get jobs in the teaching sector? Most of the general graduates in our country are sitting idle or could not get jobs as per their degrees. If you look at the security guards of big companies in cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Noida, Gurugram, you see most of them are graduates. Many employees who are in role of office assistant or driver, they all have higher degrees. No job is small or big, every work has its own importance. But, the question that remains constant is whether they got employment as per their degrees or not?
According to the definition of unemployment by the International Labour Organization (ILO), if a person gets at least one hour of wages in a week or some such work which earns him income, then he is not considered unemployed. Unemployment figures are calculated on the basis of this definition of employment, in most countries of the world.
Number Of Educated Unemployed Youth Doubled In Last Two Decades
Eighty percent of the unemployed in the country in 2023 were youth, according to ILO. In the last two decades, the number of educated unemployed youth has doubled. The unemployment rate among graduates or post graduates is more than 12 percent. On the other hand, the unemployment rate in the group who have studied up to 10th is less than 2 percent. This means that the employment crisis is rapidly increasing for those who are educated and have higher degrees.
However, there are some courses in which admission is seen as a guarantee of a bright career. One of them is a doctor’s degree. Medical studies are considered the safest career in our country. About 20.8 lakh students appeared for the examination for 1 lakh 18 thousand seats in 780 medical colleges of the country. Out of the total seats, there are about 55 thousand seats in government medical colleges, and the rest are in private medical colleges. One has to pay a hefty fee in these private colleges to become a doctor, which is almost life’s total earning of middle class family.
In such a situation, if a child takes a loan from the bank to get admission in a private medical college, then a major part of his life will be spent in repaying the loan taken for studies.
Cost Of Education Double Than Rate Of Inflation
The number of MBBS seats across the country has doubled in last one decade. Some studies indicate that the cost of education in our country has increased between 11 and 12 percent in last 10 years, which is almost double the inflation rate. If this pace continues, the fees for a medical degree may get double than today by 2035. Similarly, a lot of competition is there to get admission in government engineering colleges i.e. IITs and NITs. This year 12.5 lakh candidates appeared for JEE Main. Out of them, how many will get admission and where will others go? In private colleges, where one needs to pay hefty fees. According to an estimate, every year about 15 lakh children in the country obtain engineering degrees. Out of which, a large number of engineering graduates are left with only degrees – they are not able to get jobs according to their degrees.
In the year 2024, out of more than 24 thousand IIT and NIT graduates, 8 thousand did not get campus placement. This means, every third engineer passing out from IIT and NIIT was left behind in campus placement.
Will College Education Become Outdated?
The world is changing rapidly. Furthermore, new experiments in artificial intelligence, humanoid robots and space technology are changing the nature of jobs. In many companies of the world, employers are not looking at the degrees of candidates. Instead, they are prioritising working ability, understanding of new technology, teamwork, expertise in problem solving and critical thinking in the selection process. That is why, the trend of making colleges degrees as minimum educational qualification is gaining momentum. In developed countries, the thinking has started taking shape among the youth that struggling for a higher degree for most jobs is a waste of both money and time.
In such situation, question arises that whether college education will become outdated in future? Will one have to keep enrolling in new courses throughout life to remain in the job?
Skills More Important Than Degree In Hybrid Jobs
There are several jobs that are bound by licensing and regulatory standards. In jobs like Doctor, Engineer, Lawyer, Company secretary, Chartered accountant, pilot, the relevance of degree will remain as it is. But, there are many hybrid jobs in manufacturing and service sector, where skill matters more than the degree. Therefore, to maintain relevance of degrees, changes need to be made in the higher education. To prepare the youth for technological changes, and emerging job market, a new syllabus is required. There is a need to limit the study of such subjects in colleges and universities, which reduce the job opportunities of the youth.
Youths be must be taught in college itself that they will have to keep learning soft skills throughout their life and will have to constantly focus ion up-skilling.
It is a different matter that in our country, education is not just about getting jobs. In our tradition, education is considered a medium which takes out a person from darkness to light. It is true that education helps a person to become civilised, cultured and inclusive citizen. But, it is also a truth that if the person doesn’t earn, then how he will play a role in the progress of himself, society and the country.
In such a situation, it becomes the responsibility of those associated with higher education that the level of education in colleges and universities should be made such that there is a thought of preparing professionals according to the needs of the job market for at least the next 15 to 20 years.
Also Read: Bharat Ek Soch: Has Operation Sindoor Transformed India’s Diplomacy?
