Today, students can choose from a far greater number of courses and combinations than they would have been able to even a decade ago. Has this helped them make an informed and wise choice? Not really.
Overlooking undergraduate admissions at my college, year after year I meet hoards of students and parents, who come with anxiety that only matches their eagerness to join the portal of higher education; quite understandably, education is seen as the only gate pass to better jobs and a secure future. But what is striking is the way they ‘shop’ and make a pick among the myriads of courses that colleges offer today. Ask them as to why they opt for a particular course; most cite ‘scope’ as the usual raison d'être. Probe a little further about what they mean by scope they look askance. Most vie for a course, which is currently ‘popular’; the choice serves more as a status symbol rather than be in sync with the student’s aptitude, interest or even knowledge base. It is akin to one’s craze for the latest gizmo or fashion trend- ‘if the neighbours have it, it’s a must have for me’. My experience is surely not isolated; it is similar at every centre of higher learning, be it professional college or otherwise. Rarely does one make a wise and informed choice.
Keeping pace with the new age developments, the past few years have seen addition of numerous new fields of study in undergraduate, postgraduate as well as in professional degrees, many of which are applied branches of traditional courses. Biotechnology, microbiology, computer science and computer application, bio-informatics, counselling, environmental science, fashion designing, various management courses are some of the most sought after courses. The order of preference keeps changing though. If it is computer science this year, it may be bio-informatics next year. Students come from far-flung areas often at great cost to pursue these courses.
There is no denying the fact that educational institutions are largely to be blamed but students and parents too cannot remain oblivious of their responsibility. Colleges create an unnecessary hype around a course in their greed to attract huge admission fees from students who are only too willing to pay. Neither do the colleges bother to inform them nor do the students ever find out about the course content or the job opportunities available for a particular course. A mad scramble for biotechnology and microbiology courses for instance, has not proportionately translated into jobs for its graduates. Likewise, obsession with engineering degrees have not guaranteed total placement.
That there are varied fields one can choose from depending on one’s interest and aptitude is something most students are unaware of and their parents are unconvinced about. If they do take up ‘other courses' it is only by default and not by choice. Since many students go for subjects they have little flair for, their performance suffers. One of the many reasons for high percentage of repeaters and dropouts at all levels can be attributed to the wrong choice of subjects. With poor performance, their chances of landing a job in their chosen field also remain slim, however much scope the branch assumedly has. One must realise that in today’s career world, it’s not about being in a ‘good’ field alone but being good in one’s chosen field that matters.
With India being touted as the prospective knowledge hub of the world, and job opportunities opening floodgates for the educated, we need quality students, in every field. Consequently a number of changes have been brought about in higher education in the country. Various quality initiatives have been undertaken. It is mandatory for every educational institution to be accredited by NAAC (National Assessment and Accreditation Committee), an autonomous quality monitoring body, which follows a stringent evaluation process. Colleges strive hard to achieve and maintain excellence in every sphere of its functioning, be it in providing basic facilities like a well stacked library, updated laboratory equipments, classroom conveniences, teaching aids, and extension activities or introducing student welfare measures like counselling, grievance redressal and placement cells. Students are being granted unprecedented say and rightly so since they are the main stakeholders in education. Students can now evaluate their teachers and administrators. Although this was followed in some institution, they were few and far between. All these changes are aimed at producing quality students.
Education today is seen as a commodity where student-customers have a right to choose the best. Catering to a growing demand for higher education every year many new colleges spring up, promising to provide quality degrees. India presently has around 20,000 colleges affiliated to more than 8,900 universities that are either under central government, state governments or other autonomous bodies. Totally, they produce approximately 10 million graduates yearly, which include around 495,000 technical and nearly 2.3 million other graduates and 300,000 postgraduates. The question one is tempted to ask is what happens to them? Sadly many of them add to the ever-increasing bulk of jobseekers. I will not risk rebuke if I say that to a significant extent these students have failed to cash in on higher education facilities. This of course does not undermine the role of the institutions that churn out poor students, but the fact remains that the students had a choice, which they did not exercise well.
As per the latest data by the National Sample Survey Organisation there are nine million unemployed in India out of which 60% or 5.4 million are educated. While unemployment has always plagued us, today we have a huge posse of educated unemployed. According to a study, by 2020 India’s working population will equal to its total population of 1991, when India had kick started it economic reforms. We then will have an astounding 30% unemployment rate meaning 210 million jobless people, in which the educated jobless will be a sizable number. The irony of the situation is that large numbers of companies are perpetually facing a staff crunch and are forever on the lookout for fresh recruits. By 2010 the IT sector alone is projected to provide direct job opportunities to around 11 million and indirect jobs to 4-5 times that number. People are looking for jobs and jobs are looking for people. What then is the problem? There is a clear mismatch between demand of skills from companies and what the candidates bring in terms of skill and knowledge.
Most of them are unemployable. According to Kiran Karnik, chairman, NASSCOM, “a majority of the people do not have necessary skills to be readily employable after college”, not surprisingly when a vast majority of talent-pool eye for only a handful of careers. Individuals differ in their abilities in that no ability is superior or inferior and the route to success is different for different people. It is a proven fact that one’s natural ability, interest, good performance and job satisfaction all go together. To increase their employability students must exercise their educational choice with sagacity commensurate with their natural abilities. There are lots of jobs, which require specific skills and these skills are present in many of the youngsters. They only need to recognise it. Towards this end educational and vocational counselling at the school leaving level can prove invaluable. As a growing economy we need people in different sectors working in different capacities, or else one day India will also have to resort to outsourcing, while a vast majority of its own people remain jobless.
(The author is the HOD of Psychology & is a Counsellor, Maharani’s Science College,
Bangalore)
