The current state of unemployment among the youths in Nagaland is in a crestfallen state. It is a ticking time bomb that is going to explode in the next 10-15years given the unemployment rate of growth and leaves us all in a befuddle condition with an insurmountable task of coming to a solution. In the year 2016, there were 70,422 unemployed youths registered in the life register of the Department of Labor & Employment, that was two years ago by 2018 the number must have jumped to above hundred thousand unemployed youths. The 2016 registered number I presume must be way below the actual number of unemployed youths. If we take the estimated numbers of students graduating annually it comes to tens of thousands. The All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) 2016-17, report released by Human Resource Development (HRD) reported that for Under Graduate there were around 30,000 students and 1500 students for Post Graduate. Out of the staggering number of students graduating barely, 2000-3000 will see employment both Government jobs and self-employment. What will happen to the rest? They will be added to the Unemployed Youth files and that number will only begin to grow exponentially every year.
A local daily reported on the 6th of April 2018 that a number of 4, 40,306 students were enrolled in 2835 schools. My worry is that one day 60-70% of those students will graduate, in approximation that’s around 3, 00,000 students. We don’t have the resources to employ even 10% of them, what is going to happen to all of them? Let me make this very clear, it’s not the Government’s headache, it’s a collective problem, and it’s an impending crisis for the Nagas. It’s your problem as much as it’s mine. Whether you and I have an opinion on the duties and the responsibilities of the Government done properly or not, the Government can do only so much in fixing this issue. We have got to come together collectively and take this matter a little seriously and find a solution before we are left with no option but to abandon it completely.
Someone once said “Don’t be a part of the problem but be a part of the solution” and I don’t want to keep on grousing about how bleak our situation is, I want to be a part of the solution. It aches my heart every time I hear about this issue and I have given a good amount of thought as to how it can be fixed. In my cogitation to find a solution I have repeatedly asked myself, what is the root of the problem? And how can I fix it? I have come to the realization that the root of the problem is not the paucity of jobs, it’s not the Government but it’s what we are teaching in our academic institutions and how we are teaching. There is a need for revamping, reshaping and reconstructing our educational system. I will be the first one to admit that not everything about our educational system is wrong but that does not mean it does not need a fixing. I have contemplated much on the word “Educated Unemployed” and I have asked myself why can’t a person be employed if he or she is educated? And I realize that the things that have been taught are obsolete now, it cannot be used anymore. Every person that steps out of a college or a university has the same hundred years old knowledge that cannot be monetized neither it’s good enough to score a job.
In my blog I have talked about how our educational system is designed to smother a child’s curiosity and creativity. Every great invention that has changed an era or brought prosperity to a nation came out of curiosity and our schools, colleges, and universities does exactly what is needed to stifle that “I-need-to-find-out” hunger. A child’s uniqueness is shut close either by a teacher, the institution’s rules or just some stupid silly reasons. The freedom to be self and freedom of expression is discouraged. I have had the fortune of visiting some few schools and I was appalled to find out that some of them are almost like a prison, no sense of freedom at all. Why should learning be done in such a suffocating place? That’s the reason why learning is despised by so many students. Students are given so much outdated information to memorize and learn that they have no time to create, innovate and come up with something new. They are kept busy with irrelevant subjects that when they come out looking for employment they possess nothing new to offer and no relevant skills. There is a need for renovation in our educational system.
(To be concluded)
