India’s lost generation: Education was a secure investment, now it’s a gamble
· Scroll
A stark and urgent crisis has been unfolding in Indian society over the years. The dream of education as a guaranteed path to upward mobility has been crumbling. The “GenZ” protests we are witnessing in India today has brought the crisis into sharp relief but millions of families have long been suffering its consequences. Some of the aspects of the problem are still not fully acknowledged in public discourse.
Visit afnews.co.za for more information.
For generations, Indian families have treated education as the surest ticket to upward mobility. Even the poor scraped together whatever they could, sometimes at devastating personal cost, in the belief that a degree would lift their children, and therefore the family, into the economic stability and respectability of the middle class.
Education was an investment strategy, a form of social insurance and a retirement plan for parents who sacrificed everything for their children’s success.
However, recent trends indicate that the privatisation of education, rising costs of coaching and a shrinking job market have disrupted this conventional wisdom.
The gamble
Acquiring education has always been a powerplay. In post-colonial India, it also became a psychological anchor for families in an economy with no safety nets. Education promised not just employment but also dignity to the poor and a shield against social humiliation...