JOIN USNew age jobs: the future
Some politician sitting in the higher education offices in Delhi must have concluded that PhDs would increase the quality of the higher education system and made it a qualification, forcing all and sundry to start doing PhDs. It resulted in a lucrative business for many universities and colleges and for guides and examiners.
Consequently, regulations for the maintenance of standards in higher education obligatorily enforce minimum qualifications for appointment of teachers and other academic staff in universities and colleges in the country. The PhD degree is compulsory, not only for the entry-level appointment but also for promotion to the post of professors, associate professors and “selection grade” assistant professors.
Other entry grade assistant professor-level appointments should have the National Eligibility Test (NET) or the State Level Eligibility Test (SLET) qualification. While minimum qualifications for appointments and promotions of teachers have become mandatory, what about teacher’s salary, the security of tenure and conditions of living?
In several colleges, entry-level teachers draw salaries lower than food delivery boys. Teachers’ performance ratings are decided by students they teach, the student ratings are considered sacrosanct by college managements (students are the college’s customers after all) who use this data to decide on the hapless teachers’ annual salary, increments and promotions.
Naturally, the quality of education is the first victim. Look at engineering, commerce and MBA colleges, meant to develop bright young minds to empower the country’s infrastructure, machinery and economy.
Barring students from the IITs, IIMs, NITs and a handful of colleges, 99% of MBA graduates and 80% of engineering graduates are not employable as per a report by the Ficci and Ernst and Young.
Recently, Union Minister of State for Labour and Employment Santosh Gangwar admitted that recruiters who visit north India complain of dearth of quality people for the posts that they need to fill.
Students are languishing, unable to get employment because job skills are not taught, a reflection not only of the present state of employability in the country but also the quality of education doled out year after year by underpaid PhD qualified teachers.
An outdated curriculum, inadequate infrastructure and poor quality of faculty are making it difficult to equip students with relevant skills. Thousands of students, taught by this PhD qualified faculty simply do not possess the necessary skills forcing graduates to be “placed” into internships requiring a minimum of one year of training on a sub-par package ending up in lower-slab job roles if at all they get the internship in the first place.
The industry has been asking universities and colleges to make ‘job-readiness’ an educational outcome for a long time now but who is to teach them practical 21st-century skills? Why blame highly qualified poorly paid teachers alone?
One way out would be to change the curriculum by adding courses — in artificial intelligence, machine learning, internet of things and robotics among others, but with the PhD curricula itself dependent on the status quo, can our teachers take on the emerging new world?
Look at the transformation in this new world, right from booking movie tickets to buying groceries to sharing information — everything has dramatically changed with the advent of technology but has the college curriculum and the teaching methodology changed to cater to these needs of the future?
Can skills required to solve complex problems, critical thinking, people management, decision-making, creativity, emotional intelligence, developing an analytical mindset, problem-solving ability, creative thinking, ability to deal with change, social sensitivity, innovation and creativity, use of technological tools required in creating a business strategy be taught by our PhD qualified teachers today?
Industry needs
College education has simply failed to keep pace with the evolving needs of students and industry. The legacy pedagogy and curriculum of higher education is reeling under the pressure of rapidly evolving industry needs and the present academic framework awaits disruption.
Artificial intelligence, machine learning, deep learning, robotic process automation, financial technologies and the like are threatening to make traditional roles in industry redundant. The future of “jobs” itself is uncertain.
New age jobs are in the nascent stages of development and new-age companies are disrupting traditional theories of collegiate education. In this environment, teachers with practical industry experience, not bookish knowledge alone, will have to handhold students and propel them into the rapidly changing future.
College managements should facilitate exposure to new world pedagogy, better career opportunities, spirited salary structures and timely promotions to motivated teachers. Only then will smart, committed young students get into college, spend several years studying, graduate fully equipped and relevant to the industry outside.
(The writer is a former director on the Board of BEML)