A NASSCOM report has recently said that less than 10 per cent of newly-minted graduates in India are employable...

What makes them unemployable?

The mushrooming of several specialised courses at the graduate level are prompting students to steer clear from conventional degree courses, in an endeavour to break through the clutter. But the results have not been desirable. A NASSCOM report has recently said that less than 10 per cent of newly-minted graduates in India are employable. Even employers have expressed concern about students opting for so-called specialised courses without considering the employability of niche sectors. Swastika Surve, a human resources manager of a reputed software firm says, “There is no parity between the business needs and the skillsets available. Most interviewees have low inter-personal skills and their basic knowledge in key subjects like English and Mathematics is also poor.” Dr Adam Marshall, Director of the British Chamber of Commerce, has reportedly blamed the education system and not the youngsters, for the situation. “Too many people are coming out with fairly useless degrees in non-serious subjects,” he said. But parents too are responsible, feels Manohar Desai, principal of Ruparel College, Mumbai. “Before enrolling their wards, parents should examine the current market demand and also try to foresee the situation a few years ahead. Private institutes will always hype the demand but one shouldn’t fall prey,” he says. Most institutes lure students through seminars that create a need for these “special” courses. Rachit Garg, a third-year student says, “Recently, a Canadian institute conducted a very interesting seminar on forensic sciences and most of us are now seriously considering it as a career option.” Their interests are further fuelled with the college’s endorsement, albeit indirect. Manohar says, “Institutes approach students through colleges because it costs them nothing as compared to advertisements. But students opt for these courses as the college supports it. But for instance, while holding a seminar on forensics, its not cross checked if the students have their basics in biology and chemistry right which often leads to an inappropriate selection of students.”

JM 29/08/2011 - 09:05pm

In my view it is the faculty in colleges that are to blame. The teaching methods most of them use are pretty much outdated. What knowledge will most of them inculcate when they themselves were once at best mediocre students? It is also the managements of the colleges that is to blame. Often they bring in graduates with little or no experience to teach advanced courses. If one visits a couple of engineering colleges (the mediocre ones) around Hyderabad and does a survey on what kind of skills/qualification the faculty possesses they will be surprised to see that the 'lecturers' give themselves fancy names like 'Associate Professor', 'Assistant Professor' etc and in reality have just graduated two years ago from the same course. It is as if teaching is the last resort for graduated now a days. In my view there ought to be an evaluation program that is thorough to verify if a lecturer meets a certain standard to teach and indeed a well qualified lecturer should be rewarded with higher pay.