Education Fees, Entrepreneurship, Jobs & Social sector, Internship (s)

Education is a leveler - until it isn't.

There has been huge discussion on the National Premium Institutes fees, Internships (cost) & the routes that the students from the premium institutes take.

I was talking to very old & ex colleague of mine. His daughter has chosen the beautiful path of helping in the social sector by opening up and NGO, working for the women in remote areas. Not at a very high salary or RoI. She informed her parents, that she is going to inherit quiet an amount of wealth. That is why she does not need to earn as much & hence work with the social sector despite the payment. She does not need to pay back a loan. Nor is looking for any fancy accoutrements in her life. Because she can always enjoy a different experience when at home. This is definitely commendable. Not everyone can do this.

I know a junior who was very sure of joining in NGO's / social sector after his studies and he did. He is working in various countries, making a good sum by working with the conglomerates of the social sector. I was once trying to help someone for a job and realized that the social sector paid way more than any other when it was a global social company. While I have a friend who is struggling to set up an NGO doing best to get funding. This is definitely commendable. Not everyone can do this.

Through books we do see that there are serial entrepreneurs who have been making new ventures continuously and trying to make them work. They are able to spend time off the everyday grind and work towards a great business plan - which - is supported by family money, sometimes funding.

I have seen paintings being bought in shows by family members (that for a different time). People selling ancestral property for the studies. With no expectation of filling in again.

Versus,

I have seen people struggling, studying, burning the midnight oil, not being able to get into the elite coaching institutes to get into the colleges and educational institutes of national importance. Making their best to get their competing with people with full lives. Competing with people having a plateful of food. (yes, that too) and then trying their best to afford the fees via scholarships, scholar loans (these are loans by government banks wherein students receive a loan based on their admission letter only). etc. They are in the same high end institutions wherein they sit and study together with people from a different socio economic background. Everyone works hard. Many of them are aware of the liability they have to the banks and work hard to get through the loans. Some are on scholarships which have their own rules of maintaining a given percentage or grade in the examinations. While there are some who have got their parents to sell their lands to get there. Depending on the size and price of the land they may or may not be bereft of the education loan.

Then it is time to pay loans. That is the probable reason that the student who has to pay the loan takes up the job that pays better, compromising on the luxury of deciding the work of higher order in the Maslow's theory - self actualization - aka - NGO, Entrepreneurship etc. I will take this opportunity to convey again that some NGO's do pay great salaries and look for wonderful talent. & there is time for internships too. Professional companies do have strict rules about paying the right sum to the interns and have well set internship programs. Their HR rules are set enough to avoid or minimize any exploitation of the interns. Again, the competition to these internships is extremely high. There are 2 or 3 opportunities per season. Students have to look at other opportunities. Many internships do pay very less or nothing & cite experience as only important take away in the same. At times basic survival in huge cities for such is not easy. But then it is what it is. Though some are genuine and freshly minted companies who do wish to add in fresh talent to their pool but cannot match the salaries that huge conglomerates give. These companies do support their people with basic accommodation etc.

After moving through these hurdles, above students have to reach the right person to get the right job. Lobbying and networking within parents, relatives may add in to the effort. Unfortunately it is an important decision maker. Connects work. If the student has been a super person and had networked way through out their study time, they still stand a better chance. Other situation where they

All and all, the whole situation is not independent of the socio-economic status of the student. Securing a well paying job and returning the loans is pretty much a mandate. Especially the students who have managed going abroad to finish their studies. They work hard along with their studies, get on menial jobs to be able to afford the stay etc. The students who have got admissions in the premium institutes and are studying via scholarships and loans do have a priority to pay back the loans.

Then, yes. They do go for jobs that are well paying. They do not get the luxury of choosing as much or running in an entrepreneurial journey or a social work journey via NGA formation etc. They are definitively the achievers, the ones who have worked very hard on their own to get there. They may then leave for better prospects. Then that may be called as the brain drain etc. But the real reason might be a basic survival necessity. They may not work in the most challenging - may be a more teaching environment of a less paying startup simply because they cannot afford to. While a lot of experimentation may be done by their counterparts.

There is a definitive connect within the achieving students - the scholarships - the fees - affordability - jobs that they choose. Not everyone gets to choose. There are families to run & loans to return.

Relatively yes, today, education does level a lot more than before. Other differentiators in the social structures may be less effective. But we are still not there yet with regards to equality. Family wealth does mar the educational qualification. Gender does. (that, for later) & the other differentiators in the society do too.

Here's hoping for a more equal future.

Views are strictly personal.