How useful is your degree? Why Indian graduates remain unemployed

Half of India’s graduates are unemployable in the future – that’s the conclusion a new study by the talent assessment firm Wheebox has reached, according to Bloomberg.And what’s to blame for this problem? Issues with the country’s education system.Let’s take a closer look:Education in IndiaEducation is big business in India.Bloomberg quoted the India Brand Equity Foundation as pegging the industry’s value at $117 billion in 2020.That figure is expected to nearly double – to $225 billion by 2025.Nearly half of the population is below the age of 25, as per India Today.

And yet thousands are graduating without the skills employers are looking for.

Pankaj Tiwari, who spent Rs 1 lakh for a master’s degree in digital communication told Bloomberg, "If I had received some training and skills in college, my situation would have been different. Now, I feel like I wasted my time."[caption id="attachment_12472642" align="alignnone" width="640"] Graphic: Pranay Bhardwaj[/caption]Tiwari, who remains unemployed four years after finishing his course, added, "I just secured certificates on paper, but those are of no use."YouthKiAwaaz quoted the World Economic Forum as saying in 2022 that just 1 in 10 graduates are employable.The website quoted another report as saying that nearly two million graduates and another half a million postgraduates remain unemployed.

Around 47% graduates are not a fit for any type of role within the industry.

Only 1 in four management professionals and 1 in five engineers have the requisite skills.While unemployment remains over seven per cent, youth employment is around 3.6 per cent at the primary level, eight per cent at the graduate level and 9.3 per cent at post-grad.Al Jazeera quoted a survey by research firm Aspiring Minds as saying that companies found 80 per cent of Indian engineering graduates did not measure up to their requirements.The Azim Premji University’s Centre for Sustainable Employment found that individuals with graduate degrees are over twice as likely to be unemployed compared to the national average.The survey of 160,000 Indian households also found that women are more likely to be unemployed than men, as per Al Jazeera.What’s more, the youth know it’s a problem.The Center for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) in a survey cited nearly half of respondents saying that unemployment is the biggest issue facing India.The 'right' jobBut youths are also apt to hold out for the ‘right job’.This is because, our society puts a higher worth on ‘white-collar’ jobs, according to India Today.[caption id="attachment_12472602" align="alignnone" width="640"] India's emphasis on white collar work is an issue, experts say.[/caption]Thus, those with vocational skills or on-the-job training are sidelined.“Indian youth end up looking for ‘honourable’ jobs. They either drop out of their vocational courses or leave vocational skill-based jobs after just 2-3 years,” the piece noted.As Jayati Ghosh, an economics professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, told Al Jazeera, “As you get higher up the education scale, people are more willing to be ‘openly unemployed’. If there are no jobs available and you’ve done your BA degree, you’re not going to then become a rickshaw driver. It doesn’t make sense for them.”

Businesses also say they are facing a tough time.

"We do face a challenge in hiring as specific skill sets required for the industry are not currently easily available in the market," Yeshwinder Patial, director for human resources at MG Motor India, told Bloomberg.Speaking to Al Jazeera, Varun Aggarwal, cofounder of Aspiring Minds, blamed ill-equipped teachers, an education system that emphasises rote learning and below par institutions.“Few graduates have done internships or heard an industry talk and few professors discuss industry applications for the skills they teach,” Aggarwal said. “We found over 90 percent of engineering graduates are not even able to write ten lines of code.”What do experts say?According to India Today, students require ‘future-ready’ skills.“They are preparing for jobs that do not exist when they are in school, thanks to the rapidly changing technology-driven job market,” a piece noted.Irwin Anand, MD India and APAC, Udemy, said, “The penetration of technology, especially after the pandemic, has opened new doors for individuals as well as enterprises.”“Digitisation and upskilling are key tools in not just empowering the country’s workforce but also in keeping up with new booming sectors in the economy,” he added.Robin Bhowmik, Chief Business Officer, Manipal Global Education Services (Skills Academy), told India Today the issue is one of opportunity.“While academia provides graduates with general knowledge and comprehension of subjects, industry-academia partnership is vital to empower young professionals with first-day, first-hour productivity training,” Bhowmik said.With inputs from agenciesRead all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.