The New Education Policy (NEP) was inconspicuously a breath of fresh air for every one of us and society as a whole. It was a welcome change to the unidirectional monolithic mindset of sanctity of examinations in the education system.
A number of new ideas have been introduced, wherein substantial attention has been bestowed upon the vocational training and curriculum. The NEP accentuates the importance of enhancing the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER), which may or may not result into better quality of education. Hence, it is not only imperative but inevitable, to have a qualitative education structure rather than just increasing the enrolment numbers.
In the coming years, it is likely that there might be a larger number of youths graduating from schools and colleges but still remaining unemployed. The youths today aspire for Government or private jobs rather than getting into agriculture- or labour based-jobs. But if you see the employment data, 80% of the employment belongs to the unorganised sector. It is poignantly evident that youths are not able to meet their aspirations.
Enhancing the gross enrolment has no meaning if the dropout rate is not brought under control. In 2015, almost 80% of the people enrolled had dropped out of school. This segment of people, who come from low income families do not have the requisite financials to invest in higher and advanced education system.
Despite the high rate of youth graduating every year, they don’t possess the requisite skill sets that the prospective employers are looking for. A lot of emphasis is put on exams and getting good scores, rather than focusing on an all-round development of the child. The companies which hire campus freshers, look for a certain qualities like communication skills, confidence and ability to learn and grasp things quickly. These attributes may not be possessed by students belonging to the rural areas, and this is exactly where they lose the race.
Every child or an adolescent, studying in rural areas, aspires to become a doctor, lawyer, etc. He prefers to remain unemployed over working as a farmer or a laborer. As already discussed, the current higher education system in India demands a certain degree of investment, which cannot be afforded by all sections of society. The impediments to good quality education, which is all inclusive in nature, are multiple.
A student at the school level should always be encouraged to dream big. At the graduate level, one needs to be pragmatic enough to set up realistic goals for future. For years, the youth is made to believe that working as an electrician or a housekeeping attendant is not admirable. However, they fail to accept the fact that professional jobs are designed to employ a minority section of urban locations. Those who fail to get a desired job, suffer the ignominy of disgruntled employment. Today’s so-called ‘degreed youth’ works as delivery executives, car drivers, etc.
Our society has type-casted the nature of jobs without adequately understanding their availability and accessibility. Rather than propagating a false agenda or narrative, there should be a strong advocacy of ‘dignity of labor’ in our country. The Western countries do not have any kind of pre-emptive inhibitions or conservatism.
Not all the students who aspire to enter the medical sector, need to become a doctor. They can spend 3-4 months in a vocational training center and opt for job as nurse, hospital attendant, etc. The teachers in schools should take the ownership in counselling the students on value and dignity of various jobs.
Originally, the vocational system was introduced for students, who fell behind in the education race. The issue of vocational training is the dichotomy between meeting the short term financial needs and keeping the long term aspirations alive. But they fail to realize that through proper vocational training, one can become an expert in the specific field.
The ideal scenario would be to create a level playing field commensurate aspirations and abilities, irrespective of income levels, marginalization and socioeconomic limitations. But this is an ideal scenario that we are talking about. In the real world, where the discrimination persists, we need to have an education system that values dignity of labor. The New Education Policy is a welcome change in this direction, wherein the rat race towards scoring high marks is replaced by acquiring professional skill sets.