YOUTH AND THE HIGHER EDUCATION: HIGHER THAN WHAT?

                                     

Today one of the most intriguing questions for both students and their parents is deciding upon the right career option.  Probably all of us have gone through the same dilemma after passing class 10^th, 12th exams or during graduation. Career options for students who are pursuing professional courses/ degrees, are not clear. High scoring students have a vague understanding as to go for either Engineering or Medical (that too mostly based on peer or parental pressure). However, what is meant by IT, Mechanical, Production, Electronics, Biomedical… this information is largely superficial and choice instinctive. Few years back IT was first choice, and then recently it was Civil. For the remaining youths, a lot of thought goes into choosing the right option. Unfortunately pure Science is still not the first choice, Commerce and Arts are often chosen out of compulsion. Civil service exams are not yet an option for majority except in few pockets of the nation. There is this confusion because a lot depends on perceived utility of an option. Market value of a course is perceived (often wrongly) by youths and their parents and that is the deciding factor.

The  top (so perceived) paying career options such as MBA, Software, Chartered Accountancy, Journalism, Medical, Advertising, PR and architecture, also have in reality strong alternates like aviation, physical education & sports, law, fashion designing, Creative arts, research & development and administrative services. An annexure attached with this article gives list of several career options.  The issue is mainly about knowing aptitude, liking, and the innate program of a youth and then choosing the fitting career option for it. That will make the choice of higher education better, really higher. There are examples of students choosing study of butterflies, making innovative music instrument, or making of an android application as his / her hobby, passion and then turning it in a lucrative career. Well, the stories of Microsoft, Apple, Facebook, and many more like Amar Chitra Katha are not just stories.

While discussing the choices for those scoring higher in 10^th and 12^th, we must not overlook that such questions are actually relevant to a very small percentage of the total young population.  Majority of them are not able to cross class seven, some more fail at SSC, then again more at HSC. ‘There are 220 million children who go to school in India. Of these only around 12%    students reach university. A large part of the 18-24 years age group in India has never been able to reach college. Comparing India to countries with similar income levels – India does not under perform in primary education but has a comparative deficit in secondary education. Vocational Education is presently offered at Grade 11, 12th – however students reaching this Grade aspire for higher education. Since the present system does not allow vertical mobility, skills obtained are lost.  Enrollment in 11th & 12th Grade of vocational education is only 3% of students at upper secondary level. About 6800 schools enroll 400,000 students in vocational education schemes utilizing only 40% of the available student capacity in these schools.’ From Need for Vocationalisation of Education in India: Ms. Swati Mujumdar, http://www.indiaeducationreview.com/article/need-vocationalisation-education-india

While we boast of India as having demographic advantage due to its largest % of young population, we must accept that our education system has failed to give meaningful education opportunities to majority of them.

This is similar to a farmer going for only cash crops like sugarcane (if not opium) for the high returns, neglecting rice, jawar and pulses. Shopkeeper selling only cakes, burgers and pastries, not bothering about selling of medicines, bread and salt. Utilitarianism is the dominating current in the society, Affulenza is the name of this epidemic and with its priests like industrialism, consumerism and reductionism, education (whether higher or lower) is bound to become a commodity for sale.

Swami Vivekananda defined education as manifestation of perfection already in human being. The first thing to be learned by a teacher as well as student is that nothing can be taught. We can only facilitate, help to bring out and blossom the innate perfection. Each has a peculiar nature, which with proper nurture and supporting culture can allow the individual and then the group of individuals to grow higher and higher. Education is not just accumulation of information, which remain unused and gets rotten for the rest of life. We must have few life building, character making assimilation of ideas. A man with such few assimilated ideas is more educated for most learned people according to Vivekananda. And above all, education, especially higher education, must be for bringing Light to others. According to him, ‘So long as millions die in hunger, I call him a traitor who having been educated at their expenses does not pay the least heed to them.’ 

University education should universalize our mind. It must give holistic development of Body, Life, Mind, and Spirit. Higher education should in its true sense make a youth what ancient Indian scriptures described… Youth is he who is full of energy, well built in physique, with razor sharp intellect, knower of scriptures, who is possessing wealth of the entire earth, and yet having no passion, is devoid of any wants. He is the one who dares to meet death, to solve the mystery of immortality.

***