Unemployment after Higher Education in India: A Statistical Analysis

Unemployment after Higher Education in India: A Statistical Analysis

¹Dr. Indu Bala., ²Dr. Anju Bala

¹Assistant Professor, Department of Teacher Education Central University of Haryana, Mahendergarh Haryana

²Assistant Professor, Department of Education Bhagat Phool Singh Mahila Vishwavidyalaya, Khanpur Kalan Sonipat

DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.47772/IJRISS.2024.809052

Received: 26 August 2024; Accepted: 02 September 2024; Published: 01 October 2024

ABSTRACT

Unemployment is a global problem as across the world no Country is untouched with this problem this is a basic problem which affects the development of any country and a challenge to every government. In India also Unemployment can be seen at every stage and in every age group of people due to one or other reasons. Although all types of employment prevail in our country yet unemployment after higher education is a big issue to deal with. This paper focussed on the growth of universities and colleges, enrollment of students in higher education as well as studying the gap between degree holders and job holders. Secondary sources like data and Statistics from the internet like census CIME report, newspapers, Higher Education Profile 2018-19 and 2019-20, a report on higher education by Ministry of Education Government of India etc, UGC Annual Report (2019-20) were used to collect data. On the basis of empirical data analysis method, it was found that although the number of educational institutes as well as students in higher education increased at a high speed at all levels i.e. Ph.D., PG and UG during 2016-20, yet there is a huge gap between UG/PG and PhD degree holders and job holders Thus, many eligible citizens of our country are able to find the jobs suited to their eligibility. Manishsiq (2023), Khamo (2023), Anusree and Gangadharan (2022), Agarwal (2019), Das and Paul (2018) also revealed in their studies that increase in education resulted in decreased unemployment and found that excess supply of educated graduates, rapid enrollment expansion, lack of skills and low quality of education are the reasons for this mismatch.

Keywords: Higher Education, Unemployment, Enrollment

INTRODUCTION

The meaning of word in unemployment is regarded as that condition in which a person who is capable for eligible of doing work or actively seeking some kind of work, he or she can do but unable to find any kind of work. It is a condition when a person after having eligibility is not able to earn his livelihood but in other terms unemployment refers to that condition also in which a person has capability or eligibility of doing some work but due to some reasons, he or she is compelled to do the that work which is lower than his capability or eligibility. Unemployment is a global problem as across the world. No Country is untouched with this problem this is a basic problem which affects the development of any country and a challenge to every government.

India with second largest population of the world has world’s largest education system with around 25 crore students enrolled in school education and about 4 crore students enrolled in higher education. This number makes the Indian education the most expensive system of the globe. Having a Look upon these numbers, it can be said that India has made education cheap and affordable to each and every one and therefore the citizens of India are not only highly qualified but also are self-dependent, but the picture is not as it depicts. Unfortunately, India has a very low return on investment on education as here the students get education but is unable to get the jobs due to one or other reasons.

Right from the labour class who is the least qualified class of any country till highly qualified class being Ph.D. holders, there is no area or field area where the unemployment has not knocked the door. Many people of different classes with different qualifications, different professions and different sectors are suffering from this condition covid-19 pandemic has brought higher raise in this number, yet it is not the basic reason behind this condition.

Reasons of Unemployment

Experts and educationists gave many reasons for the unemployment like:

1. People have not proper training of doing the work.
2. People are not skilled enough to get the job.
3. Revolution in industry and digitalization has cut jobs.
4. Change in marketing process etc.
5. Increase in jobseekers due to population explosion.
6. India’s economy is underdevelopment.
7. Industrial sector is growing at a low speed.

Types of Unemployment

Unemployment of many types can be seen in various areas in India like:

1. Open Unemployment

This is the condition when a large no. of people are not able to get jobs to earn their regular income.

2. Seasonal Unemployment

Many people get the jobs during a certain season only and after that season is over, they again become jobless for the rest of the year.

3. Cyclic Unemployment

When the industry goes down due to trade cycles like what happened during COVID pandemic situation, it results in unemployment.

4. Technical Unemployment

The changes occurred due to modernization or development needs certain techniques and skills as well as less no of persons at work, it causes Unemployment.

5. Underemployment

Many people are employed at temporary or part time basis. Many highly educated persons are working at the jobs which do not match to their eligibility or lower to their qualification.

6. Educated Unemployment

This type of Unemployment can be seen in degree/diploma holders where they are educated enough but have not enough skills to get jobs. Bansal and Jain (2019); Paul and Raju (2014) found high population, poverty, lack of full employment and inflation as the main reason of employment in their studies.

High unemployment rate in India itself depicts that it has a large population who is unemployed and not able to manage their livelihood. So, it has the people suffering from all types of unemployment, but above all the educated unemployment and underemployment are the major problems of our country. This paper focuses on these.

Research questions:

1. How are universities and colleges in India growing?
2. How many students get enrolled in higher education during last five years?
3. How many eligible degree holders are succeeded to get jobs?

METHODOLOGY

Empirical data analysis method was used for this research. As per the nature of the research the data was collected from the secondary sources like data and Statistics from the internet like census CIME report, newspapers, Higher Education Profile (2018-19 and 2019-20), a report on higher education by Ministry of Education Government of India etc, UGC Annual Report-2019-20.

RESULTS AND DATA ANALYSIS

Table1: Statistics of Educational Institutions in India

Interpretation: Table :1 describes the statistics of Indian higher education on the basis of an extensive report of Higher Education Profile 2019-20. It explains how the number of universities, colleges, and standalone educational institutions are increasing rapidly.

Table 2:  Students’ Enrollment in Higher Education (Year Wise)

Interpretation: After reviewing the available secondary resources, the answer of the 2nd research question i.e. how many students get enrolled in higher education during the last five years? was found as per table:2. It describes the number of students enrolled at Ph.D., PG, and UG levels during the last five years i.e. from 2015 to 2020. It shows that total 800620 Ph.D. students have been enrolled in the last five years including 202550 in 2019-20 only in India. The statistics available on UGC’s website in a report: UGC Annual Report (2019-20) describes that total 35080 Ph.D. degrees were awarded in the year 2019 only. But surprisingly more than the awarded number i.e. 33591 Ph.D. holders have been registered on UGC’s website who are still seeking a job till date i.e. march 2022. This is the data of only those candidates who got registered at the UGC’s website but this number can be very large but not accessible as the researcher found no such report or statistics on any government website which can elaborate the factual number of job seekers or unemployed Ph.D. holders. Thus, it can be inferred that there is a huge gap between the degrees being awarded and job opportunities at Ph.D. level.  Higher Education Profile 2019-20 also reveals that 202550 candidates are still enrolled in Ph.D. throughout India.

Table 3: Registered Candidates in Employment Exchange During 2016-2020 Enrollment in Higher Education (Year Wise)

Table 4: Year Wise No. of Registered Educated Unemployed Candidates (10th Onwards)

Interpretation:   Likewise at PG level in the last five years a total of 20394093 students got enrolled including 4312535 in one year only i.e. 2019-20. 145261359 students got admission at UG level from which 30647287 students get enrolled only in 2019-20. The data shown in table:2, describes that we have a very large number of students who are seeking higher education at different levels which makes them eligible for getting different jobs. Table:3 shows the numbers of live registered candidates who were seeking jobs through registration in employment exchange registers. Further table: 4 shows the gap between job seekers (192.6 lakhs) and no. of placements done (19.1 lakhs) during these five years. Thus, empirically it can be inferred that a huge number of PG/UG pass students (173.5 lakhs) could not get jobs during this period.

FINDINGS

Based on the results the following finding can be drawn:

1. There number of students in higher education is increasing at a high speed at all levels i.e. Ph.D., PG and UG.
2. The number of educational institutions and GER is increasing at a high rate per year.
3. There is a huge gap between degree holders and job holders at UG/PG and Ph.D. level.

CONCLUSION 

A suitable job for earning a livelihood is a dream for each and every eligible candidate. It not only can increase the individual satisfaction but also the economic growth of a country. If we apply the rule of demand supply on the job market, opening of new institutions should be in line with the increasing job opportunity. The results of the current research indicate that in India there is a frequent increase in the educational institutions along with which the number of enrollment of students also increased at different levels i.e. UG, PG and PhD.  The findings point out that there is a huge gap between degree holders and job holders at UG/PG and Ph.D. level as they are still searching for jobs.  Thus, it can be concluded that a large number of people in India have degrees but are jobless and many more are in process to get these. According to an estimate of four years, 10 million people will be unemployed and become a total of 220 million by 2022. the government also estimates about one million additional jobs. But the number of jobs would not be sufficient due to population explosion (Manishsiq,2023). Khamo (2023) also provided insights into different factors contributing unemployment and revealed that there will be an increase in no. of educated people and opportunities of jobs will be decreased.  Anusree and Gangadharan (2022) also concluded in their study that there is rapid expansion in Indian higher education system, without corresponding increase in employability of higher educated graduates. They also found that excess supply of educated graduates, rapid enrollment expansion, lack of skills and low quality of education are the reasons for this mismatch. Sharma and Tripathi (2021) reviewed paradox where increased education attainment does not correspond to lower unemployment rates and include the oversupply of graduates and lack of job opportunity. Agarwal (2019), Das And Paul (2018) also discuss the mismatch between   what is taught in higher education institutions and labour market demands in India. Patel and Bulsari (2015) reviewed on education and unemployment in India and found that increase in education resulted in decreased unemployment. The numbers also describe that many eligible citizens of our country are able to find the jobs suited to their eligibility. Further, although all types of employment prevail in our country, yet educated employment has become a big challenge for highly educated people to live their lives smoothly due to lack of proper jobs.

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