Gen Z claims ownership of Education

I travelled to Kochi last week, soon after a trip abroad, and stayed the whole day there to attend an Education Summit, particularly because I wanted to hear the views of the new Government of Kerala from the new Minister of Higher Education. But when the time came for the session, I was told that the Minister was not able to come and the summit was postponed. Initially, I was disappointed, but then I realised that it was wise to postpone the discussion because two days before, there was a major shift in the discourse on education and no reform was possible without a new consensus on education.

The Cockroach Janata Party protests in New Delhi were no ordinary agitation because they challenged the premise that the formulation of policies and their implementation were in the exclusive domain of the Central and State Governments. The participation of the students in decision-making bodies, including Senates and the Syndicates, is nominal at best, and Gen Z, which is most affected by the system, has no role in decision-making. The trigger for seeking student involvement in decision-making was the massive leak of question papers, which led to the cancellation of an entire examination.

Such incidents have taken place before, but students accepted them without even fixing responsibility on anyone, not to speak of punishing the guilty. But when the CJP and some of the opposition parties demanded the resignation of the Education Minister, the issue assumed a new dimension. If the old practice was to remove a grievance, it is now the removal of the person who is accused of formulating a policy. The Gen Z seeks to remove the root cause itself.

To meet such a threat to the system, there are no quick fixes, and measures such as financial security, job stability and practical career paths should be assured. The old solutions such as infrastructure development, teachers' training, autonomy, gender equality, research and internationalisation, the kind of reforms tried out in 2011 by the Kerala Government, will not suffice for the needs of Gen Z. Pragmatic and financial realism, values-driven transparency, social accountability and ethical commitments should be invented and applied in education reform. The older generation is not equipped to bring these reforms, and only Gen Z and their representatives alone will be able to transform the old beliefs and practices. The new concepts like “Delulu is the solulu” (Delusion is the solution) will ring in our ears for years if we do not have an inclusive system of decision-making.

The first step is to work on a consensus among political parties and others on the basic tenets of education such as its purpose, its essential ingredients, private participation, international cooperation and more than anything else, profession-oriented education. The courses should be named on the basis of the vocation they would guarantee on graduation. The irony of our education system was that a developing country like India had an “Unemployed Engineers Association.” Why should we produce engineers if there were no jobs for them? A graduation should mean eligibility for a position, which entails the involvement of the private sector during the graduation process itself. The models of professional rather than academic education prevalent in some Western countries should be incorporated in our system. A student should be treated as a candidate for specific positions rather than degrees. The education and professional streams should be integrated at the graduate level itself so that students know what they will be in the future. If other opportunities arise on the way, nothing should stop them from shifting their courses, but the basic assurance of a job should remain.

Our science and arts colleges should be thoroughly reviewed to eliminate theoretical studies unless they entitle the graduates to shift to a professional course whenever desirable and possible.

In a democracy, suitable courses should be available for professional politicians to teach them not just the talents required for success as politicians, but also development, human rights and moral standards, a requirement to shape the politicians of the future. Those who wish to join the armed forces should have courses in military science and related technology.

Needless to say, foreign languages should be given importance in courses meant to seek international assignments. The courses should be reviewed from time to time to assess their relevance.

In other words, educational institutions should be seen as training grounds for specific professions. This will eliminate Gen Z's anxiety about its future and answer the key question of its involvement in decision-making.

The National Education Policy 2020, shaped after intensive and extensive consultations and elaborated by a space scientist, has not made much of a difference to the education system because of its tardy implementation by different states and suspicions about its saffron intentions. In any case, a thorough revision of that document is imperative to meet the demands of Gen Z. The sooner, the better.