Sumita Kale: Wasted education

, attributes this to the fact that "the job seekers become gradually more and more choosers [sic] as their educational level increases." However, this seems a rather facile explanation, much on the lines of the luxury unemployment hypothesis that discourages additional analysis.

The unemployment rate was higher amongst the youth aged 15-29 compared to the whole labour force and was the highest for the educated youth in both rural and urban areas "" some of the most productive labour years are being wasted. If job seekers are being 'fussy', what does this imply for the resources that have been spent on their education? Can India actually afford such luxury?

It is true that a large proportion of the educated unemployed are first time work-seekers. The proportion of new entrants to the total unemployed decreases with age and for the entire age group of 15-59, new entrants accounted for 76 per cent for rural males and 74 per cent for urban males, who were educated and unemployed. Corresponding proportions for the non-literate unemployed were 16 per cent for rural males and 30 per cent for urban males. It appears that the aspirations of the educated are not being met and there could be a number of reasons for this. On the one hand, there is higher unemployment amongst the educated and on the other, employers are complaining of a lack of skilled manpower. Clearly, to some extent, the responsibility of the mismatch must fall on the type of education being provided.

Projections done by Indicus Analytics for the TeamLease India Labour Report 2006 show that if present trends continue, unemployment by 2020 will largely be a problem of the youth "" nine out of every ten unemployed are likely to be in the age bracket of 15-29. Given the success of the Sarva Shiksha Abiyaan in raising enrolment ratios, it is highly probable that the youth swelling the ranks of the unemployed will have received some amount of schooling. However, unless there is sufficient attention paid to its quality, the bulk of the labour force will be poorly educated and generally not employable.

There has been a plethora of employment programmes over the years "" IRDP, TRYSEM, SITRA, SJGSY, NREP, RLEGP, JRY, SGRY, NFFWP, NREGP "" the list, a veritable aplphabet soup, goes on. Efforts at providing employment however remain meagre, addressing poverty alleviation in the short term. We are losing out on the potential of our demographic dividend. As the TeamLease India Labour Report puts it, India has to not only generate additional employment opportunities, the skill and education base of those in the labour force has to be raised and we have to create an environment where opportunities and capabilities are matched smoothly. Logically, this will involve making appropriate changes in the educational pattern, working on course content, teacher-training and so on "" a tougher task than making an alphabet soup.