BREAKING NEWS
This crisis is worsened by the limited imagination of career choices imposed by both society and the system. For decades, parents in Kashmir have nurtured only two dreams for their children — to become a doctor or an engineer. This cultural obsession, born out of prestige and job security, has overshadowed the immense potential in other fields
In the verdant valleys of Kashmir, where snow-capped mountains echo the voices of history and resistance, an unsettling paradox is unfolding. While education is widely acknowledged as the ladder to opportunity, countless graduates across the region are discovering that their hard-earned degrees often lead not to employment but to disillusionment. This grim mismatch between education and employment demands urgent introspection: Is our system preparing youth merely for degrees, or for life?
A Crisis Beneath the Calm: At face value, Kashmir boasts a literacy rate higher than many other Indian states. Schools, colleges, and universities have multiplied over the decades, and enrollment numbers have surged. Yet, behind these statistics lies a crisis. A growing population of educated but unemployed youth, wandering through coaching centres, clinging to competitive exam notifications, or anxiously scanning newspapers for elusive government job advertisements.
The question must be asked: Why are we producing thousands of graduates every year with so few doors open to them?
Degrees without Direction
One of the core failures lies in the structure and content of our education system. It continues to churn out graduates in streams that are no longer aligned with the needs of the market. Theoretical learning, outdated syllabi, and rote memorization still dominate our classrooms. There is little no emphasis on skill development, entrepreneurship, or innovation. Students graduate with certificates but lack the confidence or capability to navigate a competitive job market. Their education prepares them for exams, not for careers. And when the only visible avenues are government jobs — rare and politically influenced — frustration becomes inevitable.
The Myth of "Doctor or Engineer"
This crisis is worsened by the limited imagination of career choices imposed by both society and the system. For decades, parents in Kashmir have nurtured only two dreams for their children — to become a doctor or an engineer. This cultural obsession, born out of prestige and job security, has overshadowed the immense potential in other fields. Young minds, gifted with creativity, innovation, and passion, are often forced into science streams — not because of interest, but due to social pressure. The result is burnout, disinterest, and a generation of graduates with degrees they never truly desired.
The Role of Moral and Entrepreneurial Education: Beyond employability, the purpose of education should be to create resilient, moral, and productive citizens. Yet, moral education is largely absent from our curriculum. Students learn equations and definitions but not empathy, ethics, leadership, or responsibility — the values most crucial in a conflict-prone society like ours. Moreover, entrepreneurial thinking — the courage to build something of one’s own — is virtually non-existent in academic spaces. We need to nurture startups, innovation hubs, and incubators in schools and colleges, to empower our youth not to wait for jobs, but to create them.
Teachers
The Forgotten Architects: Teachers must no longer be silent spectators to a crumbling system. They are the true architects of the future, and they must rise to their moral responsibility. A teacher who inspires a student to think, create, question, and dream is more valuable than a hundred textbooks. It is time we retrain and reorient our educators to see themselves not just as instructors but as mentors, guides, and change-makers.
Rethinking Policy
Redistributing Opportunities, Not Just Salaries: It is time for the government to reimagine its employment and fiscal policies through the lens of equity and inclusion. A glaring anomaly persists within public sector structures: in several departments, individuals with minimal academic qualifications—sometimes no more than a 10th-grade education—draw monthly salaries upward of ₹80,000, while highly qualified youth, armed with degrees in engineering, science, and humanities, remain unemployed and undervalued. This imbalance is not merely economic; it reflects a systemic failure to align compensation with competence, and opportunity with merit. According to disclosures made under the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act, Jammu & Kashmir had approximately 541,528 government employees in 2020–21, which declined sharply to 412,277 by 2022–23 — a drop of over 129,000 employees within just two years (Rising Kashmir). This workforce contraction presents a unique opportunity to rethink how public resources are allocated. Imagine if just 20% of the salary of each existing government employee were set aside to co-fund the employment of a jobless youth — we could instantly create up to 5 lakh jobs without burdening the state exchequer. It’s not a fantasy — it’s a practical and achievable policy shift that transforms salary concentration into opportunity circulation. For instance, a government employee earning ₹1,00,000 per month could sustain a dignified lifestyle even with ₹70,000. Redirecting the remaining ₹30,000 to bring a qualified unemployed graduate into the workforce does not reduce dignity — it multiplies it. It affirms the government’s commitment to shared prosperity, systemic fairness, and human resource optimization. This is not a call for salary cuts or economic austerity. It is a call for distributive justice and strategic investment in talent. When those already within the system help uplift those still outside it, we move closer to an inclusive, sustainable model of governance. And most importantly — we can generate nearly half a million jobs with this single, courageous decision. No slogans. No schemes. Just a sensible shift in policy that honors both existing service and emerging potential.
What Needs to Change?
Vocational Training: Streamline it as a core part of 8th Class upto Graduation.
Curriculum Syllabus: Introduce modern, skill-based, and practical subjects like AI, Cybersecurity, Entrepreneurship
Career Diversity: Promote fields beyond medicine and engineering.
Entrepreneurial Ecosystems: Support startups and small business ventures.
Moral and Life Skills Education: Rebuild character, purpose, and civic responsibility.
Public-Private Partnerships: Link education with industry, NGOs, and startups. So that students may follow “earn while you learn”
The Road Ahead
Education in Kashmir must evolve — not just in infrastructure or syllabus, but in philosophy and purpose. We must stop measuring success by degrees alone and begin measuring it by impact, confidence, and contribution. Let us remember: an unemployed graduate is not just a statistic; he is a symptom of a system that forgot to dream beyond the classroom. If we continue to produce educated minds without direction, we will be fueling a crisis that no peace or prosperity can resolve. Now is the time to act. Before another generation learns too late that education without opportunity is the most painful betrayal of all.
Email:--------------------------------------umairulumar77@gmail.com
This crisis is worsened by the limited imagination of career choices imposed by both society and the system. For decades, parents in Kashmir have nurtured only two dreams for their children — to become a doctor or an engineer. This cultural obsession, born out of prestige and job security, has overshadowed the immense potential in other fields
In the verdant valleys of Kashmir, where snow-capped mountains echo the voices of history and resistance, an unsettling paradox is unfolding. While education is widely acknowledged as the ladder to opportunity, countless graduates across the region are discovering that their hard-earned degrees often lead not to employment but to disillusionment. This grim mismatch between education and employment demands urgent introspection: Is our system preparing youth merely for degrees, or for life?
A Crisis Beneath the Calm: At face value, Kashmir boasts a literacy rate higher than many other Indian states. Schools, colleges, and universities have multiplied over the decades, and enrollment numbers have surged. Yet, behind these statistics lies a crisis. A growing population of educated but unemployed youth, wandering through coaching centres, clinging to competitive exam notifications, or anxiously scanning newspapers for elusive government job advertisements.
The question must be asked: Why are we producing thousands of graduates every year with so few doors open to them?
Degrees without Direction
One of the core failures lies in the structure and content of our education system. It continues to churn out graduates in streams that are no longer aligned with the needs of the market. Theoretical learning, outdated syllabi, and rote memorization still dominate our classrooms. There is little no emphasis on skill development, entrepreneurship, or innovation. Students graduate with certificates but lack the confidence or capability to navigate a competitive job market. Their education prepares them for exams, not for careers. And when the only visible avenues are government jobs — rare and politically influenced — frustration becomes inevitable.
The Myth of "Doctor or Engineer"
This crisis is worsened by the limited imagination of career choices imposed by both society and the system. For decades, parents in Kashmir have nurtured only two dreams for their children — to become a doctor or an engineer. This cultural obsession, born out of prestige and job security, has overshadowed the immense potential in other fields. Young minds, gifted with creativity, innovation, and passion, are often forced into science streams — not because of interest, but due to social pressure. The result is burnout, disinterest, and a generation of graduates with degrees they never truly desired.
The Role of Moral and Entrepreneurial Education: Beyond employability, the purpose of education should be to create resilient, moral, and productive citizens. Yet, moral education is largely absent from our curriculum. Students learn equations and definitions but not empathy, ethics, leadership, or responsibility — the values most crucial in a conflict-prone society like ours. Moreover, entrepreneurial thinking — the courage to build something of one’s own — is virtually non-existent in academic spaces. We need to nurture startups, innovation hubs, and incubators in schools and colleges, to empower our youth not to wait for jobs, but to create them.
Teachers
The Forgotten Architects: Teachers must no longer be silent spectators to a crumbling system. They are the true architects of the future, and they must rise to their moral responsibility. A teacher who inspires a student to think, create, question, and dream is more valuable than a hundred textbooks. It is time we retrain and reorient our educators to see themselves not just as instructors but as mentors, guides, and change-makers.
Rethinking Policy
Redistributing Opportunities, Not Just Salaries: It is time for the government to reimagine its employment and fiscal policies through the lens of equity and inclusion. A glaring anomaly persists within public sector structures: in several departments, individuals with minimal academic qualifications—sometimes no more than a 10th-grade education—draw monthly salaries upward of ₹80,000, while highly qualified youth, armed with degrees in engineering, science, and humanities, remain unemployed and undervalued. This imbalance is not merely economic; it reflects a systemic failure to align compensation with competence, and opportunity with merit. According to disclosures made under the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act, Jammu & Kashmir had approximately 541,528 government employees in 2020–21, which declined sharply to 412,277 by 2022–23 — a drop of over 129,000 employees within just two years (Rising Kashmir). This workforce contraction presents a unique opportunity to rethink how public resources are allocated. Imagine if just 20% of the salary of each existing government employee were set aside to co-fund the employment of a jobless youth — we could instantly create up to 5 lakh jobs without burdening the state exchequer. It’s not a fantasy — it’s a practical and achievable policy shift that transforms salary concentration into opportunity circulation. For instance, a government employee earning ₹1,00,000 per month could sustain a dignified lifestyle even with ₹70,000. Redirecting the remaining ₹30,000 to bring a qualified unemployed graduate into the workforce does not reduce dignity — it multiplies it. It affirms the government’s commitment to shared prosperity, systemic fairness, and human resource optimization. This is not a call for salary cuts or economic austerity. It is a call for distributive justice and strategic investment in talent. When those already within the system help uplift those still outside it, we move closer to an inclusive, sustainable model of governance. And most importantly — we can generate nearly half a million jobs with this single, courageous decision. No slogans. No schemes. Just a sensible shift in policy that honors both existing service and emerging potential.
What Needs to Change?
Vocational Training: Streamline it as a core part of 8th Class upto Graduation.
Curriculum Syllabus: Introduce modern, skill-based, and practical subjects like AI, Cybersecurity, Entrepreneurship
Career Diversity: Promote fields beyond medicine and engineering.
Entrepreneurial Ecosystems: Support startups and small business ventures.
Moral and Life Skills Education: Rebuild character, purpose, and civic responsibility.
Public-Private Partnerships: Link education with industry, NGOs, and startups. So that students may follow “earn while you learn”
The Road Ahead
Education in Kashmir must evolve — not just in infrastructure or syllabus, but in philosophy and purpose. We must stop measuring success by degrees alone and begin measuring it by impact, confidence, and contribution. Let us remember: an unemployed graduate is not just a statistic; he is a symptom of a system that forgot to dream beyond the classroom. If we continue to produce educated minds without direction, we will be fueling a crisis that no peace or prosperity can resolve. Now is the time to act. Before another generation learns too late that education without opportunity is the most painful betrayal of all.
Email:--------------------------------------umairulumar77@gmail.com
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