Open Forum
New
Delhi, 2 April 2015
Education
Disorder
ACCESS,
EQUITY & QUALITY
(Edited Version of Vice President Hamid
Ansari’s address
at convocation of Hamdard Univ)
India is blessed with the
second largest working population in the world after China. It is estimated that by
2022, 63 per cent of our population will be in the working age group. This
translates into a very large number in absolute terms. We are also one of the
few countries where the working age population will be far in excess of those
dependent on them, for at least three decades till 2040.
This demographic structure presents
us with an opportunity of a potential ‘demographic dividend’, which tapped,
could add to our growth potential, provided two conditions are fulfilled.
First, higher levels of education and skill development are achieved. Second,
an environment is created in which the economy not only grows rapidly, but also
enhances good quality employment/livelihood opportunities to meet the needs and
aspirations of the youth and the marginalized and deprived sections of society.
Nelson Mandela had called education
the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world. It is the most
potent tool to empower an individual or group, politically, socially and
economically. Productive and gainful employment based on relevant education and
skills becomes the transformational ingredient in the all round empowerment of
citizens and overall progress of a society.
Educating, skilling and providing
productive employment to our teeming millions, especially the youth, thus
become a matter of highest priority in order to reap the benefits of the
‘demographic dividend’. Failure to do so would have serious economic and social
implications for the country.
Empirical evidence also shows that
socio-religious groups such as SCs, STs, Muslims and women, and backward
regions of the country, which lag behind in education, also trail the rest of
the nation in terms of employment and socio-economic and political empowerment.
It is, therefore, essential for us
to develop an effective education system that helps learners acquire knowledge,
skills, values and attitudes necessary for forging a more inclusive, equitable
and sustainable society.
We have made progress since 1947 in
the field of education at primary, secondary and tertiary levels. There is near
universal enrolment at primary level, while it’s rising appreciably at the
secondary level. India
has the third largest higher education system in the world with around 30
million students enrolled in 45,000 institutions. However, considerable
challenges still remain.
Our education system, as a whole and
at all levels, continues to suffer from the three problems of access, equity
and quality. Despite the growth in recent decades, enrolment levels remain
below the world average. Wide disparities exist in enrolment percentages across
socio-religious groups, gender and geographies. Dropout rates continue to be
high at the primary and secondary levels. The education sector is plagued by a
shortage of well-trained faculty, poor infrastructure and outdated curricula.
Resources as a percentage of GDP allocated to education remain at less than the
required level.
Given the direct correlation between
education, employment and empowerment, the biggest challenge confronting us is
low employability of our graduates passing out of the higher education
institutions. Credible surveys undertaken in the job market have brought forth
some startling facts. Allow me to mention a few:
• An employability survey on engineering
graduates (2014) concludes that less than 20% engineers are employable for IT
jobs and 7.5% are employable for core engineering jobs, even though more than
90% aspire for such jobs. The key reason behind such paltry employability
percentages is inadequate preparation in the domain area, i.e. the ability to
apply basic principles of say, computer engineering or mechanical engineering
to real world problems.
• Another survey on graduates (2013)
finds that as many as 47 % graduates in India are not employable for any
industry role. Most of the graduates (40% approx) were found suitable for
clerical/secretarial roles. Their lack of English language knowledge and
cognitive skills were identified as the major obstacles to their suitability in
the job market.
• A similar report on MBAs (2012)
informs that employability of management graduates in functional domains
remains below 10%. Whereas one third of management graduates lose out because
of lack of English and Cognitive skills, at least half the students are not
employable in functional domains for lack of knowledge and conceptual
understanding of the domain.
Besides these, the surveys highlight
some common ailments afflicting the higher education sector as a whole, which
affect employability of our educated youth, and hence need to be addressed
urgently.
• The curriculum in most cases is
out-dated and irrelevant since the universities are often not enthusiastic in
keeping their curricula up to date and relevant.
• Teaching-learning practices are mostly
examination-oriented with focus on rote learning and memorization.
• Urgent necessity of substantive
intervention at school and college levels for improving basic skills of
students as well as renewing the focus on imparting vocational training
alongside theoretical learning.
• Around 35% of faculty positions in
State universities and 40% in central universities are lying vacant. There is
no mandatory formal teacher training program conducted to develop effective
teaching skills.
• There exists an overwhelming bias in
recruitment from campuses in Tier 1 cities to the detriment of campuses located
in Tier 2 and 3 cities, where majority of our students are enrolled. These
students remain ‘invisible’ to potential recruiters since they do not belong to
the top colleges usually preferred by companies.
These findings have sparked serious
concerns about the mismatch between the education system and the needs of the
job market. Nothing can be more disruptive for our social cohesion and
sustained economic progress than a large army of educated, unemployed youth who
feel disempowered, in every sense of the term. Hence the need and urgency of
addressing this issue comprehensively, if we are to emerge as a modern,
progressive and prosperous society.
Since higher education is within the
domain of both the Centre and the States, the question of standardization of
quality needs to be addressed on a continuous basis. Yet another complicating
factor, of more recent origin, is the emergence of a large number of
institutions of higher education in the private sector. Today they enrol almost
59 percent of the student body; they also largely remain beyond the quality
control mechanism of the government.
What is required is to widen the
reach, enhance affordability and improve quality of education so that it is
accessible to all strata of society. This would require dedication of more
resources, creation of better physical and pedagogic infrastructure, modern and
updated curricula and an effective regulatory framework.
The education system will have to
gear itself to support nation’s economic agenda by creating job-ready and
employable workforce through increased focus on imparting structural and
technical skills. This would be critical for achieving faster, sustainable and
inclusive growth on the one hand and for providing decent employment opportunities
to the growing young population and the needy sections of society on the other.
I conclude by urging you to develop
an urge for excellence and to persist in it. Obtaining a university degree is
not the end of your quest for knowledge. As someone said, excellence is not a
destination; it is a continuous journey that never ends. So strive continuously
for your own betterment and that of your society. ---INFA
(Copyright,
India News and Feature Alliance)
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