1. A Survey on Education

 

Sikar has better primary school education standards than most other districts in Rajasthan. Sikarites are very proud of this fact. Assming them to be representative of educated Sikar population, I asked a selected group of people about job skills needed in 15 years time. The group consisted of educationists at SK College in Sikar and other colleges in Rajasthan.

 

1.1 The Problem

The question I asked was simple. Which skills (did they think) would be most useful for employment in 15 years time? The 15-year time period was not arbitrary. A person starts working between 21 and 28 years of age (if he has luxury of getting an education). Many students starting school this year would be ready for employment in 15 years time.

 

To put this question in context, I asked a simpler question. What did they think would be changes in Sikar in 15 years time? How would those changes affect society, politics, education, and economic activities of people in Sikar? Would Sikar leapfrog into league of cities with good civic amenities (our students had identified sanitation as single most important issue)? Would our city be a city with a soul? Presently Sikar is amalgmation of communities (based on caste and religion) hardly interacting with one another. Social organizations are caste based, and political parties exist to further career of a few individuals. Would Sikar have a common platform for inhabitants to socially interact in 15 years time?

 

When asked about the future, the Professors started in a predictable fashion. A few seemed very optimistic about the future while others were concerned with withering away of existing social structures. As the discussion progressed, they were more realistic in their responses. First I would describe their opinion in social, economic, and political sphere in 15 years time.

 

1.2 Social Changes

Basing on the trend of sex ratio for children below six years of age being heavily skewed toward boys, they felt that marriage market would become more favorable for girls. They felt that individualism would play havoc with Indian joint family system. Older generation is conditioned to teach younger generation from their life experiences. But the young like to explore the world for themselves. Traditionally elders always had a say in all matters. But now (and in the future) youth want to make decisions for themselves. This dichotomy could play havoc with grandparent, parent, and child relationship. However, since the ‘old generation’ in 15 years time would be better educated, they could find a greater fulfillment in leading more productive lives by writing, reading, and traveling. They do not have to see their life’s fulfillment in the success of their children.

 

1.3 Economic Changes

Economically, inhabitants of Sikar would be better off. According to the reports issued by reputable organizations such as Lehman Brothers, Goldman Sachs, and others, India is poised to grow at 8 to 10 percent in coming 15 years. Assuming Sikar grows at 7 percent annually in the same duration, our per capita income would more than double in 15 years time. With reduction of travel time to Jaipur and Delhi, manufacturing and services should play a greater role in Sikar’s economy.

1.4 Changes in Education

Finally the most important sector: the education. Basing on the trends in the past, the educationists felt that this sector would undergo most radical changes. Post-independence there was paucity of people to man education sector, manufacturing industries, and public administration. Therefore, the barely educated people in Sikar found employment as teachers, army men, and as babus in the administration. As economy has expanded, the government employment has stagnated or waned but employment in private sector has expanded exponentially. This trend is set to continue. Private sector would employ most of the people in future.

 

In words of Mr Mahendra ji, Professor of History in SK College, “our present educational system was established to fulfill the colonial need to administer India. Unfortunately, we continued with colonial educational legacy even after independence. With changing market needs, globalization, and changing attitude, the nature of employment has changed. In this context, our traditional educational framework has become obsolete and irrelevant.” He further explains, “Students are as devoted to education as they were in the past. But the old courses in history, public administration, and such cannot provide jobs. Students pursuing these courses do not feel a need to be serious about studies. However, students pursuing job oriented courses are very sincere about education and learning.”

 

With better road connectivity and communication penetration, English language knowledge would become more important. Even today knowledge of English is pretty important. With Sikar being part of the global village, and multinationals scouting for talent from each part of the village, knowledge of English would become paramount. Dr. Chandan Singh Katewa, Professor of English at SNMT Govt Girls College in Jhunjhunu explains, “In 15 years time, the ability to think and analyze would be in demand. For job application, the most important skill would be English competence, both oral and written. It is safe to assume that communication skills (listening, speaking, reading, and writing) would be the need of hour”. This would have an unintended effect of having a generation with good language skills but poor in understanding of subjects such as mathematics, sciences, and social sciences.

 

1.5 What to take home from the discussion?

The professors felt that information technology, nanotechnology, biotechnology, and other such emergent fields would be major source of employment. Students aiming to get jobs in these sectors would do better than others. For employment in these sectors the professors felt that in addition to knowledge of science and mathematics, students should be able to think analytically, be able to deal with large amount of data, and be able to arrive at conclusions from the data.

 

To sum up, the parents should critically examine the education their wards are getting. Marks and percentages are irrelevant without relevant skills. Rote learning is useless and will serve no purpose whatsoever. Educators should look at the relevance of courses taught in school and colleges. The purpose should not be to inform but to develop critical skills of reasoning, thinking, and analysis. Students should broaden their mind by reading books and learning about mathematics and sciences.

 

(Drs. Ramnivasji (Political Science), Arvind Mahla (Sociology), Ramdev Singh Bhamu (Hindi), Arshad Shiraj (Urdu) and Rajendra Khyalia (Political Science) participated on the discussion about likely changes in Sikar in 15 years. Their views have been expressed in the above article without attributing to any particular individual because they expressed opinion as a group. I would like to thank them for finding time to participate in the discussion. Written by Maneesh Mahlawat. The author can be contacted on mahlawat@nav-prerna-school.com)