Unemployment among Youth

The unemployment rate among youth is increasing day by day & going further it is going to be a big challenge for a country like India.

One of the reasons for this obviously is the availability of the employment opportunity. But on the other side we probably need to look at changing a few things in our education system. There are lakhs of graduates who are unemployed. Many of these people do not do anything if they don’t have a job. The reason - They are educated but not skilled. 

If these people are skilled then the chances of them getting a job is higher. Even if they do not get a job then they can do something on their own.

The following process can be explored: -

1)    Conduct mandatory Aptitude tests.

2)    Involve Industry along with Educational Institutes to develop courses which can create people with employable skills. Government can push this combination through NSDC. 

1)    Conduct mandatory Aptitude tests.

It is important to create awareness about the various career options available for the students, especially regarding Skill development. Secondly, it should be made compulsory for all the students to appear for an Aptitude test. All the schools should be instructed to mandatorily conduct this Aptitude test for the students appearing for tenth as well as twelfth standard exam. 

The students should then decide his future education path based on the result of this aptitude test & guidance from his parents & teachers. This way he will get a more scientific as well as experience based advice. This would be a proper method of career counselling.

We are now seeing Doctors working as actors, Engineers working in FMCG or Finance companies, Graduates becoming chefs, Finance graduates becoming musicians or sports persons etc. These people chosen the profession for which they have a passion after spending their valuable 4 to 6 years studying a course which they don’t intend to pursue in future. It means they squandered 4 to 6 years of their precious life studying subjects which they were not interested in building their careers in future. 

A proper career choice at the right time can help the students follow their passion. It is necessary that the students should not blindly enrol for glorified streams like Medicine, Engineering et al. They should choose the vocation of their liking in the beginning itself so that they are equipped with the necessary skills to get the employment about which they are passionate.   

In foreign countries, Vocational education is considered at par with formal education. They do not consider it inferior to the main stream education. In fact, a Plumber or an Electrician earns as much as an Engineer there. It is important to remove the taboo surrounding Vocational Education in India. If customized courses are developed based on the skills required in the industry or society then more people can get jobs & unemployment can be reduced.

During the old era, each village used to be a self-sufficient unit. Each village had people following a particular profession. Thus, farmers produced food grains for the village & similarly Carpenters, barbers, shopkeepers, potters, weavers etc served the village needs. Thus, people had jobs & migration was less. 

While the old model may no longer be applicable now but we can take some learnings from the same. 

2)    Industry should collaborate with Educational Institutes to develop courses which can create youth with employable skills. Government can push this combination through NSDC. 

Industry can play a major role in developing the right skills among the students. Most of the companies have 5 year’s plan & forecast their Sales, Revenue, Profits accordingly. Similarly, they should forecast the number of entry level employees they will be recruiting for the next 5 years. They should tie-up with Educational Institutes to fill up these positions. 

Thus, the Educational Institute can plan the number of seats for each course / program. They can also guarantee employment to the students. This will ensure that the graduating students get work.   

With this combination, the balance between the demand & supply of employment generation is balanced. The demand for skilled employees by the industry & need for job by the youth will both be taken care off.  

Globalskill – The Skill Education app has taken up the initiative to skill the underprivileged youth so that he gets an employment. The app has the following features: - 

1)    A platform for promoting Skill development courses.

2)    Job section for the candidates to upload their resume & apply for a job. Employers can post their job vacancy advertisements here.

3)    A competition platform is available for organising various Skill related competitions.

It has also collaborated with TISS – SVC to promote Bachelor of Vocational studies courses.

To download the app click here: https://lnkd.in/gaw7bjM