The Rising unemployment

The twin motto of acquiring education in the current circumstances is to transform the life of  the individual so that he meaningfully contributes in the society, and to have a reasonable means of livelihood to feed his family. But how is it possible that public sector enterprises absorb all the educated people.

The problem is exacerbated due to prevalence of fragile private sector in our part of the world as it employs minuscule section of the educated lot with scant remuneration. The educated lot pursue academics courses of highest order but the dejection, despair and hopelessness, given of rising unemployment, might de-motivate the current and the coming generations.

Rising unemployment among educated masses:

The government sector can adjust a handful of people. Even for limited vacancies, the contesting candidates are innumerable and are therefore a cut throat competition. Jammu and Kashmir is figuring at the top of the ladder in terms of highest unemployment rate in the country. The problem with the youth of Jammu and Kashmir is that they do not pursue varied career options and stick to the courses which already are saturated.

The courses which were relevant and progressive before couple of decades have lost their relevance in the current evolving job market; but  are unfortunately still considered as career options and therefore pursued by the bulk of aspirants. Unfortunately our colleges and universities are still offering courses with defective curriculum.

The traditionally designed curriculum leads to pass out graduates and post graduates who find it difficult to acquire  a respectable job for themselves and this keeps  on adding to the unemployment figures. The colleges and universities of Jammu and Kashmir too need to redesign the learning ecosystem by introducing 21^st century driven learning courses which will enhance job prospects.

The educational institutions in our part of the world cannot exist in isolation and need to maintain pace and momentum with the reputed institutions of the country and therefore need to evolve along the lines of better performing institutions which are job market driven and industry driven, and have an impressive record in job placements.

Additionally our educational institutions need to contextualize courses as per the local specifications to nurture and support the spirit of startup ecosystem in Jammu and Kashmir. India is currently the hub of startup ecosystem as record number of  startups  have been started by the youth and incentivized by the government. J&K has to do considerable progress in this regard to ensure the startups become viable career options for our youth.

The inherited and traditional system needs to be overhauled. Unfortunately our recruitment system assesses and weighs every job seeker,  be it a graduate, post graduate and doctorate with a common yard stick. How come on earth a PhD or PDF degree holder, who has done specialization in a particular theme or topic in his subject, will be able to solve questions from varied subjects like history, polity, economics, reasoning and aptitude, general knowledge etc. How they will keep pace with fresh pass out graduates, who  too are  posed same set of questions. This immediately needs rectification.

Adhocism and concerns of educated youth

The academic arrangement in colleges and schools ( High and Higher Secondary Schools) though provides momentarily relief as the qualified youth, but the contract nullifies as soon as the academic session ends. This renders these high-degree holders vulnerable, anxious and at the same time frustrated , as it is uncertain whether they will make to the merit list of  next session as the temporary hiring to these posts is an open ended competition  and anyone having the requisite qualification can apply.

The number of applying candidates keeps on piling each passing other as new pass outs with higher percentage of marks are added to the recruitment fray. This displacement leads to uncertainty as bulk of aspirants cross the age threshold and cannot therefore apply, either for permanent or contractual job.

The author has talked to numerous doctorates who have been college contractuals for a decade but are  now in despair  as they have crossed maximum bar. Their ordeal is painful as they have given their youthful days to the department of higher education and there must have been some degree of weightage and some relaxation in their favour: be it the relaxation in age or some percentage of posts reserved for them as per their  proportion.

Dr. Mushtaq  Rather is an Educator