India’s biggest challenge is not just unemployment, but the unemployability of over 60 crore youth. Although the employable percentage has increased from 33.9 per cent in 2014 to 51.3 per cent in 2024, a grim reality persists: over 47 per cent of graduates remain unqualified for industry jobs (National Skill Development Council, NSDC).

Moreover, available data also reveals that over 70 per cent of engineering graduates are deemed “unemployable,” and more than 80 per cent lack advanced digital skills, largely due to theory-based assessments and insufficient practical experience. Further, only 40 per cent of this segment opts for internships, exacerbating the issue. Most candidates realize their lack of job readiness in their final year of studies or shortly after graduation, when acquiring necessary skills demands significant time and money.

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This leaves them unemployed or unfit for any viable self-employment. While being unemployed is unfortunate and disheartening, being unemployable is disastrous leading to a cascade of negative emotions like impatience, frustration, and anger among youth, often resulting in their socially and legally unacceptable behavior on roads, markets, restaurants and even in public places. The real issue in our country is not unemployment, but unemployability. It is not the lack of job vacancies or self employment opportunities, but the lack of employable skills that plagues our youth. Social barriers, especially for girls, hinder their participation in higher education leading to a loss of nearly 40 per cent of the potential workforce.

The preference for government jobs over private entrepreneurship stifles innovation and self-reliance. Our society which is trying to embrace modern technology in the workplace also needs to cultivate discipline among the youth through strict upbringing and provide affordable skill education. The Covid-19 pandemic has also highlighted the need for local industrial infrastructure and grassroots vocational training as millions lost their jobs during mass migrations. Broadly, our youth, who need attention, can be categorized into four groups:

* Those who stop at primary education and become the blue-collar segment.

* Those who complete schooling but do not pursue further education due to economic, family, or social reasons and reservations. They can read and write but lack any skill for getting employed, becoming part of the White Collared Dropout Segment without any direction

* Undergraduates, (for example students passing out from scores of ITIs), graduates or postgraduates with limited employment options, forming a frustrated white-collar segment. Mostly, they get absorbed in low-paid jobs involving long hours of physical strain devoid of any sustainable life style.

* Students who pass out from mediocre professional colleges, (which have mushroomed all over the country), in multiple streams like Engineering, Medical, or IT. Here also, most of them lack the right skills required by industries, hospitals, or other organisations, contributing practically nil to nation building. A population of 138 crore, including over 60 crore youth, should ideally be an asset. However, the unemployability factor has turned this potential asset into a liability. Effective legislation is needed to control population growth, a politically overlooked issue.

As of 2023, India’s unemployment rate hovers around 7.4 per cent, with urban unemployment at 8.2 per cent. Young adults (20-24) face an unemployment rate of approximately 22 per cent. Despite economic growth, there is a disconnect between traditional education systems and the skills required by the modern job market. A 2020 World Economic Forum report states that 54 per cent of India’s workforce will need re-skilling and up-skilling by 2025 due to rapid technological changes.

As industries transit towards automation and digitization, conventional degrees alone are insufficient to secure employment.

India’s education system faces challenges due to two fundamental parameters: affordability and a common acceptable National language. Affordability remains a barrier, as economic conditions often determine access to quality education. Additionally, the lack of a common language hampers the im – plementation of skill-based training through a unified platform. Bridging these gaps is crucial for creating an inclusive and effective educational framework that caters to the diverse needs of students. To address un employability, the following suggestions are crucial:

* Acceptance of a common national language, apart from the vernacular language, for primary and secondary education. It is time we discard branding English Language as colonial and accept it as the one common language across the country.

* Uniform national syllabus in vernacular languages till 12th grade, with compulsory advanced learning of the national language for higher studies.

* Common national language for all professional colleges for different streams since jobs and the requirement of the right skill do not have linguistic or geographical limits.

* Firm rejection of regional, linguistic, caste, and religious considerations and vigorous promotion of One Nation, One Education and Universal Employability ensuring unified national identity. Continuation of such harmful bias for imparting education only in vernacular language up to class 12 results in lack of professional competence for any professional jobs or any competitive self employment venture.

* While online higher education presents benefits, challenges like digital literacy and inconsistent internet access in rural areas must be addressed. Currently, only 43 per cent of rural households have internet access, creating a digital divide.

* Upgrade outdated infrastructure of training aids, equipment and tools etc. in all ITIs to match present industry or self employment vocations.

* A comprehensive and uniform policy for selecting, training, and career progression of teachers is needed to match advancements in technology, computers, artificial intelligence, and emerging vocational opportunities. Only a properly trained faculty can train and deliver a future-ready workforce for the country. While the NEP 2023 makes significant strides in addressing affordability and promoting multilingualism, the challenge of implementing a common national language for skill-based training remains.

Continuous efforts and innovative solutions are needed to ensure that all students, regardless of their linguistic and regional background, can access quality education and benefit from skill development opportunities for sustainable employment ensuring decent living standard. The nation cannot afford to delay addressing unemployability. We need decisive action to tackle this mammoth problem that threatens our aspirations to become a superpower. Along with various reforms, there is a burning need to enforce strict measures to set the country on the desired path.

Resistance may arise, but think of it as a war where many soldiers bleed for the salvation of millions. We desperately require implementation of a common National Education Programme to provide affordable education, skills, and specialized training. It is time for the national political will to initiate corrective measures, considering factors that have exacerbated the problem. There are no heights which cannot be scaled…there is no success which cannot be achieved…and there is no limit to which human ingenuity cannot reach.

(The writer is a retired Air Commodore, VSM, of the Indian Air Force)