If there are avenues for college-going youth to work and earn for supporting themselves in foreign countries, what prevents the govt from replicating this method here?
By KSS Seshan
A few months ago, it was prominently reported in regional newspapers that a 12-year-old boy, Sai Prakash, in Jagtial town of Telangana when stopped by a passerby and asked why he was working as a newspaper delivery boy and not studying at that age, is said to have shot back with great self-confidence: “what is wrong if I work while studying?” What is more interesting is that the child further elaborated, “If I do this now (delivering newspapers), it will prove to be useful for me in future”.
This sixth-class student of a government school asserted that waking up early in the morning and cycling to deliver the newspapers will be a healthy exercise that will keep him fit and improve immunity. The concept of “Earn while you Learn”, which is so much in vogue in western countries for its inherent positive value system among the youth, has not become a norm in our culture.
It is a matter of gratification to know that Osmania University is contemplating to encourage its students to take up part-time jobs to earn a small remuneration while pursuing studies. The university’s decision to allow the employed diploma-holders in Engineering to pursue BTech by attending evening classes on a part-time basis will certainly help them obtain a graduate degree without much hassle.
In India, generally, the mindset of both students and parents is that children should not be asked to do any work while studying. Even in rural areas, school-going children helping their parents in family avocations like farm work during weekends or even holidays is considered almost sacrilegious. Leave alone family avocations, even for domestic chores, asking children to chip in, is an emphatic no.
Rajaji’s Plan
In the early 1950s as the Chief Minister of Madras (now Tamil Nadu) C Rajagopalachari introduced a system in education which envisaged that the schools in the State would work in the morning session alone setting students free in the afternoons. His contention was that students when freed from attending school during afternoons would naturally be involved with the family profession and thus get acquainted with some work or the other while being students.
However, this regulation introduced by Rajaji triggered an uproar among the public. Opposition leaders and his ditractors smelt a rat in his policy. They said the Chief Minister wanted students belonging to rural backgrounds not to go for any government jobs but to continue to engage in the family professions after studies. According to the new policy, they argued that a barber’s son was to become only a barber, a washerman’s son to be a washerman, a carpenter, a potterer, and a goldsmith’s children will have to continue in the profession of their family but for those in services, like teachers, lawyers or doctors, there is the possibility of their children to pursue the profession of their parents.
As most of these professions were caste-based, the Chief Minister was accused of attempting to perpetuate the caste system instead of stemming it. Rajaji lost no time to repeal the new regulations as the opposition became loud and clear.
Western Model
Indian students when they go to the US, UK or other western countries, to pursue higher studies do take up part-time jobs to support themselves as the fellowship/scholarship they get may not be sufficient to meet the monthly bills.
They work in groceries, bakeries, hotels, malls, supermarkets, gas stations and other shops and establishments. In the UK, for example, these young men and women are paid around 5 pounds an hour. They can work for 3 to 4 hours a day and 5 days a week on a part-time basis. The earnings are substantial and they can thus relieve the parents back home from greater economic burden. The craze to study abroad among average Indian youth, therefore, to an extent is also due to such possibilities of earning while studying.
Need to Replicate
If there are avenues for college/university-going youth to work and earn for supporting themselves in foreign countries, what prevents one from replicating this method here within the country? The major impediment to this is the prevailing mindset. The general perception of the present-day youth in the country is that students should seldom work. That is the reason why students, by and large, even waste their leisure and energy “killing time” through gossip and non-constructive avocations. There is, therefore, every need in our country too for the government, educational planners, teachers, parents and every stakeholder to give serious thought to evolve a plan of action to formulate a policy where such willing students, particularly in colleges and universities, are to be provided opportunities to work in order to earn while studying.
Of late, many universities, for example, are taking their workforce on a contract basis or on outsourcing. Employees taken temporarily on a contract basis have to commute from far-off places to discharge their duties. If a few students from within are drafted for such part-time work, it will benefit both students and the organisation. University administration, except perhaps confidential sections like the examination branches, can as well depend on such internal students for part-time work till such time that they finish their courses.
In cities and towns where there are large malls and departmental stores, shops, star hotels, hospitals and other manpower-driven establishments, students from the vicinity can be drafted for part-time jobs for a certain period, thus ensuring financial support for such willing students. If this system is formalised, it will be of great help, particularly for the youngsters who hail from marginalised sections and rural areas, who otherwise would find it burdensome to pursue their studies in metros and urban centres. It will also benefit parents as they would heave a sigh of relief when their ward could earn for his/her upkeep while studying. Even to the employer, it will be a welcome step as the students thus employed will be more work-oriented, less demanding and free from trade unions and other labour problems.
To make the entire system work, there is every need to bring a change in the societal mindset of all the stakeholders. A meaningful debate on the benefits of the concept of ‘Earn while you Learn’ is the need of the hour.