By: Rayees Ahmad Kumar
A couple of days ago a video went viral across social media platforms in which a P.hD scholar was seen selling dry fruits on a cart. The self styled ‘journos with a smart phone’ immediately fired a series of unnecessary, trivial and worthless questions to this scholar. These pseudo-journalists who are completely devoid of journalistic ethics and whose number is surging with each passing day across every corner of the valley were trying to garner wide viewership and inviting comments on an issue which is shattering the dreams of thousands of highly qualified and passionate individuals of this region.
It is unfortunate that people who have burnt their midnight oil and earned degress of great repute for an honorable livelihood and contributing to the society are pushed to this extent. However, the mockery made about this specific issue soonwent viral within minutes and every Tom, Dick and Harry passed comments without realizing the pain qualified, jobless people have been enduring for years after completing their research degrees.
Passing degrees after degrees and qualifying myriad of exams hasn’t helped them in earning a decent living and it rather left them desperate, hopeless and dejected. The degrees which are in their possession depict their diligent hard work and a big investment of their parents whose only motive would have been to give their children better education and make them able to earn a decent living. However due to meager opportunities made available to them in government sector as well as in private sector, they are left at the mercy of circumstances.
After failing to grab a government job, these highly qualified youth are caught in a tricky situation and spend most of their precious time thinking about alternatives available to them. Since we lack a vibrant private sector, such youth are dejected on that front as well. It is therefore meager works like selling commodities etc that they end up doing.
Gaining a P.hD degree after strenuous efforts from a university and qualifying the NET/SET the eligibility exams for Lectureship in a college and university must have ensured a research scholar’s job in an educational institution as teacher, but due to limited resources and finite avenues even these highly qualified research scholars are opting for inapt and ill-suited jobs. Sometimes the situation takes such an ugly turn that they take extreme steps. Opting for contractual jobs in colleges and universities is further worsening their condition instead of encouraging them to embrace this somewhat prestigious job.
There are many reasons behind this including lack of job security, disparities in the monthly salaries being paid to them in colleges/universities against what UGC has set in its guidelines and norms and assigning them extra workload in the workplace etc. After spending years in these educational institutions to impart education and training thousands of students, a contractual lecturer’s own future is put at risk as there is no policy of absorbing this talented and hardworking workforce in these colleges against vacant positions.
It is also a fact that after applying even for the contractual jobs, only a fixed lot gets opportunity to work on adhoc basis in colleges and universities while rest of them opt for other jobs. The reality is that from our colleges and universities an army of unemployed pass-outs are produced each year without a roadmap to accommodate in the government machinery.
To address this issue, the newly introduced NEP 2020 stresses for learning skill based courses while in schools and colleges. It won’t transform the system overnight, however if given a positive direction and implemented judiciously, it can do wonders to redress this grave issue.
The gravity of this problem can be acknowledged by the fact that number of applicants applying is more than hundred times the number of advertised posts every time when the notifications are issued by the recruiting agencies. It is challenging for the authorities to conduct the exams for various advertised posts. To overcome this growing problem and suggesting a lasting solution, every stakeholder including the authorities at helm must come forward at an earliest to safeguard the future of our educated youth as it becomes challenging for them to survive.
The writer is a columnist hailing from Qazigund Kashmir.