Open house: What steps are needed to discourage Indian students from going abroad to study?

Once education and health sectors were treated as missionary works, Christian missionaries, Arya Samaj, Sanatan Dharam, Sikh and Muslim organisation used to work for such noble cause without any profit motive. Even when private players joined these sectors they used it as a tool for social cause and state governments also provided them 95% grants to run the show. But few decades ago big corporate houses entered in these sectors with a sole motive to earn profit and make money. Another disturbing factor is that even professional qualification earned here does not guarantee a decent job opportunity whereas a degree in foreign country assured the candidate not only lucrative job after degree but also permanent residency with lots of perks and facilities. Youngsters going abroad for studies do not earn for themselves but also help their parents here and moreover earn foreign exchange for the country. In this age of liberalisation, our governments should concentrate more on developing employment opportunities here so as to keep the young generation here in fruitful engagements.

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Naresh Johar

Abolish reservation in govt jobs

Desperation among students to go abroad is justified not because of greener pastures but better life, education and career opportunities abroad. Most of the students going abroad belong to general category. This is a harsh fact that after Independence political parties in the country have finished job opportunities in government sector for them (general category) by increasing quota for Scheduled Castes and Other Backward Castes through reservation policies. So, in this scenario, the students feel that even after doing graduation from colleges here, they cannot even dream of getting a government job. So, after doing Class XII they are opting to go abroad rather than take admission in colleges. As a result dropout rate in colleges has increased. Moreover, some students belonging to very poor families after taking admissions in colleges are leaving colleges in between only due to continuous economic hardships being faced by their families. The education in foreign countries is much more practical than our country. The foremost step the government should take is to abolish all sorts of reservation quota in government jobs. Secondly, campus recruitment from colleges should be introduced. Last, but not the least, whole education system needs to be revamped by imparting practical knowledge of subjects as per date.

Sanjay Chawla

Start professional, short-term courses

Wastage and stagnation used to be a chronic problem at the school level. They found it difficult to recruit students and then to retain them despite providing cash stipends, fee waivers, reservations and scholarships. Now, schools are full but colleges run after student strength and are finding it hard to maintain staff even as low paid guest faculty. In fact, most of these colleges, including some education colleges, were opened not to fulfil any felt need for higher education, but to earn profit after charging hefty fees and donations and spending a small fraction of it on maintenance. Now, on account of unprecedented unemployment in all spheres, there is hardly any intake in colleges. No wonder, many of them are on the verge of closure because school graduates emigrate on the pretext of higher education or join the work force as unskilled workers. As a matter of fact, college education has become rather irrelevant in the present scenario. There is a tangible decrease in the reported number of applicants opting for studying abroad, but our colleges have no innovative and professional or short term courses to offer. The managements are least bothered because they live in their ivory tower. No one can be recommended to go in for higher education if there is no guarantee of employment or any avenues thereafter at any level. I think for many of our colleges, particularly those in the rural area, it is the dead end. If you sow the wind, you reap the whirlwind.

Prof Mohan Singh

Improve quality of higher education

The high dropout rate in colleges across Punjab has become a major concern that requires urgent attention from the government and other stakeholders. This reflects the quality and accessibility of education, as well as the socio-economic factors affecting students’ retention and achievement. Therefore, a multi-pronged strategy could be adopted to address this issue, such as enhancing the quality and accessibility of higher education institutions, particularly those offering courses/programmes in agriculture, engineering, medicine, nursing, lab technology, and other fields that are relevant and attractive among students. Financial incentives should be offered to the needy, deserving, and underprivileged students, such as SCs and OBCs, especially women, who have higher dropout rates. Another strategy could be to improve the employability and skill development of graduates by introducing short-term skill-based vocational and professional subjects/courses, strengthening industry-academia linkages, and creating more job opportunities in the state. To create awareness about the benefits of studying locally among students and stakeholders, success stories of alumni and current achiever-students studying in the state can be showcased. The career opportunities, value, and recognition of Punjab graduates in the global market should also be highlighted. Finally, creating a safe, supportive, and inclusive on-campus environment for students could also help retain them. Critical issues, like discrimination, harassment, violence, and drug abuse should be addressed, and counselling, mentoring, and guidance services should be offered on campus. Providing opportunities for interaction and exchange with students from other states and countries can also be beneficial to retaining the students.

Dr Kulwant Singh Phull

Create employment & business prospects

It is a sad fact that students don’t want to study and stay in Punjab. They prefer a foreign destination to pursue higher education and realise their dreams. The exodus of students from the state to foreign lands is a matter of grave concern. Students are flying out of Punjab for the simple reason that employment opportunities in the state have squeezed, nay, dried up. Jobs are hard to come by in the state. Even well-educated youth in Punjab are facing the scourge of unemployment. So, they are moving out of the state. The trend to study and settle abroad seems to be irreversible at this juncture. However, the government can slow it down. First, it has to create employment opportunities for the youth. There’s an unsaid and unwritten ban on recruitments. Vacancies are seldom advertised. Permanent recruitment is discouraged. Contractual or ad hoc system of employment is being promoted. The new recruit is being paid peanuts. The systemic rot that has set in the recruitment policy has greatly frustrated the Punjabi youth. This has compelled them to leave their state for good. The ugly trend can be contained by creating job and business opportunities for the youth. The government must introduce a robust recruitment policy to attract and lure the youth to stay back .Besides, it should also come up with a deliberate policy to provide easy loans to the youth to start their own business. Parents should also motivate their children to stay back and add to the economy of the state. They should also motivate them to go abroad only after the completion of their under-graduate degree. Together, we can stem the tide of exodus of Punjabi youth to foreign countries.

Prof Rajan Kapoor

Start job-oriented courses

Owing to scarce availability of employment opportunities, desperate youth is exploring greener postures abroad. There are numerous instances of bitter harassment of gullible people trapped in tryst for crossing the borders at the exchange of huge sum of money with agents, but the craze of migrating to advanced countries goes on unabated. Ironically, a large number of students under the garb of pursuing overseas studies are also migrating, whereas our own colleges and universities are yelling for bare minimum admissions. Most of the aspirants arrange money by pledging/ selling the hard earned properties of their parents for meeting hefty expenses. Besides students, exodus of highly skilled workers and professionals too goes on unabated for better remunerations. This has led to the mushrooming of IETLS/ TOEFL centres in every city of Punjab and adjoining states apart from attractive advertisements on media channels with alluring immigration services. Despite a big fraud committed by an unscrupulous travel agent supplying fake admission letters to the students applying for Canada, the offices of the agencies remain flooded with young boys and girls for enquiries to move abroad. Though many of our local colleges and universities are well recognised, yet the students without any perusal of the prospectus of teaching courses abroad are eager in seeking offer letter even from low-graded colleges in countries like Canada, US, Australia, UK and Europe, etc. The youth vigour is the greatest asset of the country but a large number of them are tempted to phony job offers. Obviously, there is a need to check the loopholes and regulate the process of overseas migration strictly. As far as possible efforts be made to fulfil their aspirations internally, for which we must improvise our systems and upgrade infrastructure so that they do not fall prey to dubious agents indulging in heinous crimes under the hoax of overseas employment. In order that our students acquire competitive education, new orientation courses of world standards be introduced in our institutions. Alongside,

skill centres with full focus on job-intensive disciplines need to be developed for providing satisfying careers to our youth.

Nirmaljit Singh Chatrath

Upgrade existing economic, social infra

In recent years, there has been a surge of Indian youth migrating abroad for studies. More disturbing is the fact that majority of them are moving before college-level entry, leaving behind most of our educational and professional institutions on the verge of closure. However, the basic problem is not that of exodus of students for higher studies abroad. What motivates them is available prospects to settle abroad permanently and in long run to seek better standards of living under strong and enduring social infrastructure. Therefore, in order to discourage this trend, our country needs to substantially upgrade existing economic and social infrastructure for making them equally attractive to our future generations. Besides, the gap between the value of Indian rupee with those of key foreign currencies is another major reason of students settling abroad permanently. Given the present economic and social conditions, it is very difficult, if not impossible, to dampen the craze for migrating to foreign lands.

Jagdish Chander

Ensure jobs for youth

Schools /colleges are modern temples of education. In the present scenario the youths are focusing on their future better career abroad. When they see that their friends are ready for flight to educate them abroad, the students compel their parents to send them abroad by any means by taking loan or any other source they can adopt. It is a prestige for the parents and the youths when they grab PR / citizenship of that country. Even at present when the student is to fly for education abroad the Facebook page of their relatives clearly indicates for blessings to them for a new future life prospects. In the present scenario, the student’s desire is of lavish residences, costly cars and easy life with full of amazing adventures and they feel that abroad is the best destination to settle. The youths are least interested in doing business in India, not only this the students are desiring government jobs which numbers have come down due to the information and technology revolution and private jobs have increased manifold. Even though the universities/ colleges abroad have hiked their fees, in spite of this our youths are interested to go abroad and settle with their families. The government should ensure job guarantees to the youths and motivate the masses towards motherland that India will soon be a developed country with creation of unlimited job opportunities and handsome pay scales.

Rajat Kumar Mohindru

Introduce hi-tech education system

According to data from 2022, 13.24 lakh students have migrated abroad from India mostly from Punjab. In addition to that, four times rise in the number of immigrants from the state in 2023. These formidable facts have led to a major point to ponder, in the upcoming year. According to the context, it seems that when questioned about their desire for a significant shift in their lives, teenagers cited a common belief that Punjab lacks opportunities for growth and success. As a result, many of them have the misconception that the only way to secure their future is through immigration to other countries. The only way to prevent this from happening in the forthcoming year is to bring a major change in the mind-set of the people in general about thinking that countries such as the USA, Canada and Australia are dreamlands. Many individuals are influenced by fake and sugar-coated social media posts that do not reveal the dark side of the story and hide all the hardships and suffering faced by countless immigrants and regret their decision. A way to resolve this matter is that the government should organise a seminar involving all NRIs to discuss the pros and cons of such a bold step truthfully. This would give an unbiased review of life in foreign countries to all who are planning for migration and help them visualise reality. Another harsh and bitter reality of Indian colleges is that many students are demoralised by the atmosphere, hefty corruption, and discrimination due to reservation. Additionally, the government needs to add more facilities such as a hi-tech education system and 24/7 professor guidance required for persistent study with proper maintenance along with strict inspections on bribery and corruption.

Lakshit Jindal

Entrepreneurship in education system

Students from Punjab are desperate to go abroad for more employment opportunities because they see a future there. They know that their dreams can come true once they settle abroad. No doubt they love their state too much and it is very difficult to adopt a foreign culture because many problems exist abroad including racism, physical hard work, high cost of education and living, changes in food habits, climatic variation, etc. In spite of these issues, students are willing to go abroad and earn money there. One another factor is the high value of currency also. One major reason is students feel shy in Punjab while doing physical hard work. The very sense of entrepreneurship is missing from Punjab’s educational system. Even agriculture is totally dependent on minimum support price of Central government. Hence, what is required is total change of educational curriculum to entrepreneurial type so that students should not feel shy while doing physical hard work, rather adopt entrepreneurial skills to start their own ventures in Punjab only.

Harvinder Singh Chugh

Question for next week

As a limited number of ‘raen baseras’ and railway stations get overcrowded soon during the winter season depriving homeless persons of such facilities. What more steps should the government take to shelter them in the biting cold?

Suggestions in not more than 200 words can be sent to jalandhardesk@tribunemail.com by Thursday (Dec 14)