Is India missing its economic dividend with a 50% unemployability rate? Roadmap to a Viksit Bharat

People under 35 form a majority of the country’s population. Fostering an environment for their well-being and growth should be a priority for samaaj, sarkaar and bazaar alike.?

Things are looking up for the Indian economy, with a steady growth rate over the years. The job market is encouraging, and the emergence of AI as an industry disruptor is also contributing to the evolution of jobs. However, the Economic Survey 2024 reveals that about half of all Indian graduates are unemployable, right out of college. Meanwhile, 33% of Indians aged 15-29 are categorised as NEET (Not in Education, Employment or Training). Coupled with the low female labour force participation rate, this is a missed opportunity for the demographic dividend upon which the Viksit Bharat vision rests.?

Possessing the relevant skills as they enter the job market will help Indian youth make the best of this scenario. The realm of school-to-work transition, therefore, is an important area of focus. School-to-work (StW) transition is defined as the passage of a young person (aged 15 to 29 years) from the end of schooling to the first fixed-term or satisfactory employment. It includes capacity building of adolescents and young adults (aged 10-19) to cope with the changing demands of skills, technology, and labour markets while aligning with their interests. It also refers to the transition from the completion of schooling to the establishment of stable, long-term employment, which can either be formalised through a written or verbal contract lasting for a minimum of 12 months. This stage also includes individuals who may not have long-term wage employment but hold a job with a self-perceived sense of continuity.

How does school-to-work transition look in India?

Three forms of StW transition exist in India today, but all of these lead to jobs with low skill requirements.

1. Transition to higher education
2. Transition to TVET (Technical and Vocational Education and Training
3. Transition to the workforce after completing Grade 12

Over 90% of individuals in low-to-medium skilled jobs have 14 or more years of education.?

The subpar outcomes of StW transition are caused by systemic issues that begin at the primary education level. Weak foundational skills and lack of access to appropriate vocational training contribute to the skill gap. Obsolete curricula, poor training infrastructure and apprenticeship models, and the perception of VET as “inferior” to university education aggravate this further. Consequently, only 18% of the students undergoing vocational education courses get jobs, of which merely 7% are in the formal sector.?

Can effective career guidance and mentorship bridge these gaps?

The issues surrounding StW transition can be addressed at various levels. Career guidance and mentorship at the high school and undergraduate levels can target concerns around awareness, accessibility, affordability, availability and quality of education.

Awareness: The career aspirations of 60% of students are limited to five traditional professions – engineering, government services, business management, medical science, finance & banking. These are influenced by societal stereotypes and a narrow exposure to the vast array of career possibilities. Career decision-making process post the 10th and 12th grades are fraught with myths and parental misconceptions, emphasising the need for accurate career insights.

Availability: A mere 13% of all schools offer dedicated career guidance. The deficit of qualified mentors is stark, with a national average ratio of students to qualified mentors standing at 1:3,000,000. An additional hurdle is the over-reliance of programmes on volunteer mentors.

Accessibility: Despite the proven benefits of mentorship, only 13.2% of students have access to professional career guidance. Geographical and infrastructural barriers, particularly in rural and non-metropolitan areas deprive a considerable number of students of quality guidance. This disparity is exacerbated by a hesitance among school leadership towards embracing innovative mentorship initiatives.

Affordability: The cost of private career guidance varies significantly, ranging from ?5,000 to ?50,000 per programme. Establishing mentorship infrastructure in less accessible areas requires substantial financial investment, creating a considerable hurdle for initiatives in bridging the urban-rural gap.?

Quality: NASSCOM (2021) reports that only 23% of industries actively collaborate with educational institutions, with 60% of student internship requests rejected by companies, highlighting the lack of strong industry-education linkages. The geographical and linguistic diversity of India calls for a tailored approach that many existing programmes lack.

Interventions with promise

Several interventions address one or more of the aforementioned issues with CGM.??

Atal Tinkering Labs

Atal Tinkering Labs (ATL), initiated to equip students with 21st-century skills, offer platforms for tinkering, challenging, and competing, effectively bridging the school-to-work transition. Across the country, 10,000 ATLs connect students with experienced professionals, guiding them with industry trends, skill requirements and entrepreneurship. Its grant structure helps students surmount the affordability barrier to quality mentoring and exposure.?

Mentor Together

Mentor Together uses a risk index to identify students most in need of counselling. It blends in-person and digital platforms like ‘Mentor to Go,’ to extend comprehensive career guidance, impacting 4,000 mentees with the support of over 700 mentors. They take a two-pronged approach to mentoring, involving life skills and work skills, enabling young adolescents make informed choices and pursue their desired careers.

Claylab?

Claylab focuses on economically disadvantaged high schoolers, connecting them with mentors spanning 280 professions across 42 cities. They aim to ensure that 80% of students secure at least one internship before Grade 11.?

iDreamCareer

IDreamCareer’s mentorship approach consists of 1000+ hours of career curriculum, a? tech-enabled doubt-answering chatbot, live counselling sessions, and capacity-building for teachers to act as career counsellors. iDC is also building India’s first Student Copilot for career discovery that will help scale CG&M to millions of students at economical pricing.

Medha

Medha integrates its initiative within the public education system, with a focus on addressing skill gaps and improving experiential learning, especially for women and disadvantaged groups. It has achieved a 74% increase in students pursuing higher education from its beneficiary groups, and has expanded to 147 campuses, with the vision of fortifying 166 polytechnics in Uttar Pradesh.?

While these programmes have seen some success, they need ecosystem support to ensure that the career guidance and mentorship models can sustain and scale. The flow of information regarding industry demand and supply, development and administration of relevant curriculums and training modules, establishment of necessary infrastructure for experiential learning, and a robust mentor network, all require patient capital. Targeted investments to enable smooth school-to-work transition for Indian youth, and set them on the right trajectory for economic growth could expedite India’s progress towards becoming a developed nation by 2047.?