DR. Geetanjali Chakravarty

I still remember my school days when my parents would push me to put that extra effort, stand out from others and go all out to secure first division (60% plus) in physics, chemistry and biology in order for me to get into medical or engineering field and take it up as my career path. Little did I know where my passion was or which subjects were of interest to me. Moreover, attending tuition classes after school hours was the norm. This structure went on during college education as well without any emphasis on actual skill development. The ideology and mindset have not changed. Even today students are slaving over an unproductive task: Just to get a few extra marks. The time spent to score a 99 instead of a 97 in physics could have been used to learn a completely new skill, which would make one more employable and contribute more to the economy. Though skill development is now in focus within the National Education Policy (NEP) however not much has been implemented. As India talks about a much-needed shift in education system at par with global standards, the irony is only a staggering 5% of youth aged 20-24 have obtained vocational skills through a formal training system. Many students drop out of schools and colleges unaware of the alternative educational and employment opportunities available. These students often migrate to rural areas and settle for a daily wage work. India needs a radical reform of its school education system. Here are some solutions. One, we need to make a cultural shift. We must let our children breathe. There are professions other than engineering and medicine in the real world. If you are skilled at something, you will get somewhere in life. Mainstreaming of vocational education and skill development within the school system is the way forward. A boy in a village who is not doing well in standard curriculum should be given the option of selecting secondary subjects such as horticulture, animal husbandry, plumbing, welding or nursing, so that he can graduate from the school with dignity. Moreover, in these vocational subjects, the knowledge and skill levels should be globally competitive. The existing educational establishment does not have the capacity to drive this transition. First and foremost, it would need a cultural shift in the mindset then followed by trained teachers and state-of-the-art facilities. With the current system, India would continue to find it difficult to make its youth competitive in the increasingly tough globalized market place. The education system in India must create a mechanism wherein students can take up skilled jobs every year in sectors such as automotive industry, emergency services, healthcare & nursing, culinary arts, health & fitness, music to name a few. This change is the need of the hour if India is aiming format an overall development of a student in a school. And, though the millennial generation also known as Generation Y has lived with a pre-fixed education structure, it is time that Generation Z can look forward to a new education design that will take the nation to the next level.