Aligning the stakeholders

Institutions, corporations, and the government should share the responsibility of creating a sustainable, inclusive model for employability

- NABANITA GHOSH

Today, the question brought to the table is, "Can a student be trained from the mother's womb to cater to corporate needs?" The world is reeling under the pressure of producing for the corporate sector: the tech giants, the accounts executives, the smart programmers, and whatnot. The learning institutions, specifically the undergraduate and postgraduate ones, are predominantly responsible for disseminating adequate domain knowledge to aspirants who are spending their valuable three to five years grooming themselves for a sustainable future.

With the rise in demand for value-added and professional courses, students are invariably enrolling in the same and are blessed with opportunities to undergo extensive internships in firms or entities. In a few spectacular cases, they even land positions in some big companies. Looking at the scope of the general category of learners, quick internships, conservatively spanning only a few weeks, can at best justify the concept of internships for students without adding significant productivity to their academic bank or accelerating their career graph. These non-professionally qualified interns are at the mercy of their institutions and, therefore, cannot be strong contenders in the job market. Comparisons push such candidates to the back burner, and consequently, leveraging their qualifications becomes a steep proposition.