Unplanned Education - A Necessity or a Trap ? Part -1
Good evening sir ? what are your charges of counselling ?
I opened this whats app message from unknown number with a curiosity ..
" what exactly are you looking for " I replied.
"I am pursuing my graduation in Medical Technology ( first year ) and I am confused about future. Unable to understand what should I do, so I need to talk to you " she replied .
" Need to talk to understand, kindly call" I replied.
Next moment the phone rang..
" Sir, I am Anjali, I got your reference from...." she continued and we discussed for a while ..
The story was not so uncommon but was disturbing (As a coach, I find it hard to not step into the shoes of the student to understand him/ her properly)
She had enrolled in a 4-year medical technology course in a globally renowned college in the city after she failed to clear her NEET ( and she did admit that she had faltered in her NEET preparations at the last moment due to her carelessness). She thought that if not Doctor, at least this course sounds it is good and its related to medical.
Her parents had paid over 2.5 lac for semester 1 and she had realized that the course had nothing concrete in the content. The few available teaching faculty members were much below average. No student felt as if he was learning anything. Nothing near to what the college brochure promised was being delivered. Cancellation of scheduled classes was almost routine and on most days students were wandering on the campus or going out and chilling. Neither classes were happening regularly nor the college was listening to student complaints.
When she checked with her seniors in 2nd and 3rd year, they told her that they had given up the hope and were just passing days to get the degree in hand... and they advised her to do the same as well.
The surprising logic was- although they don't teach anything worthwhile and we don't really learn here but since the College is highly reputed, the degree will have weightage in the market and you may get into some good higher education institute or may get a Job after your UG degree.
The Girl was not fully convinced and hence was worried about her future. She had some vague plans hovering in her mind. The Parents had asked her to come back forgetting the fees paid and enroll in some traditional degree like home science in their hometown and complete the degree course.
Anjali however was sensible and wanted to think and check all options before taking any call and thus she approached me ...
Is Anjali the only one? Is the problem faced by Anjali the only one of its kind? Certainly Not.
Renowned Institutions cheating students with fancy courses and hollow promises while charging them bombs is now quite common. The sad part is both educated and uneducated parents fall into this educational trap with the same ease.
I have observed that the next year's educational planning usually begins towards the end of the previous year and in most cases is done even in a short period of 10-15 days after the previous year's results or entrance exam results. Obviously, most decisions are made in a rush. The reasons are plenty.
Quite often for parents and students, it's like taking a call for the day without bothering about the end result or direction. It's like "lets now focus on getting admitted to a course and then later we will think about what's to be done next .."
I sometimes wonder If the parents take pride in enrolling their ward in a highly expensive educational course at a so called BIG institute without really bothering to check the reality details of the education. Not Bothered to think that Physical malnourishment can be medically treated but Intellectual and emotional malnourishment in crucial 4 years of their child's life becomes a major setback for him.
Lets look at some reality that has emerged out of such unplanned and random education ..
10.53 Lakh graduates and post graduates including lakhs of PHD Holders, MBA Graduates, Engineers , Doctors having BAMS and BHMS degrees have applied for mere 4600 vacancies of the village level grade C government servant named TALATHI in July 2023.
Read the news here
Similarly thousands of graduates and postgraduates including PhD holders had applied for job of driver in police department in Thane district couple of years ago.
These are just two latest examples among tens and hundreds of similar examples where we see extremely high number of young students opting for jobs where there is a stark mismatch in the person's educational qualifications and position. Rather the person is overqualified.
In almost all cases the students never had a dream to apply for such jobs. Why would anyone study so much if he wants a job of a driver. The educational qualification required for Driver usually is grade 12. Yet they do so and they are doing so in hoards.
There are multiple reasons for this painful reality in the society.
A stable - secure government job is alluring the Gen Zs who have seen considerable instability, job losses of their earlier generations in last few years.
However this isn't the only factor, Other factors like the quality of education and lack of appropriate job opportunities are responsible as well but we won't be speaking about them because they are not really in our control as private citizens of this country.
I would like to draw your attention to one important factor that is completely in our control and that is the Parent's and student's approach to education post 10th and post 12th .
While we as a nation are taking pride in high number of students who have completed their graduate or Post graduate degree, ironically the degrees are serving no purpose.
The Reason: Purposeless Education - yes however absurd it may sound but most of the students in India are completing their education without any specific and concrete reason , goal or purpose.
99% of such students just want a job .. Any job . Usually a high paying less effort job. And they feel a good degree ( God knows what does that mean) and a good college is enough to get a good job. Most students are following trends in education... vague market perceptions and anticipations.
The result is laughing at us for many years and it will laugh at us in the future as well. These are the people who float around their Cvs in the Market for any job, these are the people who are the first ones to get laid off.. these probably are the people who lead a life that rides the tides and goes where the tide takes.. sometimes in the deep sea and sometimes to subside on the shore..
So what can be the solution.. ? The solution is simple but not easy.. it doesn't take a lot of intelligence but does take some common sense .. lets discuss it in the next article .
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wishing you happy time always.
Avinaash Deshmukh
Youth Coach
9657600076
avinashdeshmukh@brainsmaart.com
(the incidents mentioned are real. Student's name changed for confidentiality.)
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