Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) Baramulla Javid Hassan Baig Sunday said the existing curriculum must be drastically reduced and children should be equipped with practical and vocational skills to prepare them for an increasingly challenging employment landscape.
In his address during a day-long conference organised by the J&K Teachers Forum (JKTF), Baig called for a fundamental overhaul of the education system saying the country was facing a serious mismatch between the number of educated youth entering the job market and the employment opportunities available to them.
He said India has a very large young population, with around 70 crore people below the age of 30, while thousands of graduates enter the job market every year with limited employment opportunities.
“Every year, 50,000 graduates leave our colleges, and we cannot give more than 8-10 percent employment,” Baig said.
He stressed that the issue required a serious rethink of existing education and economic policies.
The MLA questioned whether merely framing policies and repeatedly discussing their implementation would be sufficient when the economy was unable to absorb the growing number of educated young people.
He also raised concerns over growing disparities in access to quality education, saying the education system had developed multiple layers in which children from affluent families have access to elite institutions while a large majority study in comparatively under-resourced schools.
“The education system should not be confined to academic qualifications alone but there should be greater emphasis on vocational and traditional skills,” he said.
“I would like my eighth or tenth child to know about carpentry, handicrafts and he should know about knitting,” he added.
He said traditional crafts and skills associated with Kashmir should also be incorporated into the education system so that children could acquire skills that could help them earn livelihoods beyond conventional white-collar employment.
Baig also questioned the relevance of an excessively lengthy syllabus, saying it should be substantially reduced to provide space for practical learning.
“If I get a chance in my life, I will tell you to reduce this syllabus to 30 percent,” he said.
He added that students should be given greater exposure to practical skills rather than being burdened with excessive academic content.
The MLA also highlighted the role of teachers in transforming the lives of students, recalling how teachers had influenced his own life despite the absence of adequate infrastructure and facilities during his childhood.
He said teachers could change the destiny of children even when the system failed to provide adequate support.
“There are so many teachers here. You cannot do anything. You cannot change the system that is inside it. Meaningful educational transformation will require changes at the systemic level,” he added.
He also spoke about the growing competition in professional education, particularly medical education, saying students from India were increasingly pursuing medical training abroad while employment opportunities for qualified professionals remained limited.
Baig urged teachers and education stakeholders to look beyond conventional approaches and critically examine the long-term consequences of the policies being advocated.
He called for a broader debate on the future of education, employment and the younger generation.
“The challenge before policymakers is not merely to educate children but to ensure that the education they receive are equipped to survive and succeed in the real world,” he added.
