The ‘cockroach movement’ took the nation by storm. While the political Right is on the back foot, the Left is finding relevance after more than a decade and the Centre is figuring out how far it can go when it comes to organising the public against the incumbents. But almost no one seems to be thinking about the real problem.
Against this backdrop, an interview of the Union finance minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, strikes a refreshing tone. For the first time, a cabinet minister in the Narendra Modi government acknowledged how our education system fails to train the young for jobs. India’s higher education sector has expanded, with enrolment around 31% higher than in the previous decade. Public universities have struggled to keep pace; private universities, many with questionable track records, have tripled, catering to over two-thirds of students. Yet job creation lags. More than 90% of India’s 35 million graduates enter jobs unrelated to their degrees because of a mismatch between skills and training. With 600 million Indians below 25 and 7 to 8 million entering the job market annually, the scale is unique.
The services sector and the start-up ecosystem cannot meet this requirement. Only robust manufacturing can. However, agriculture accounted for 43% of employment in 2025, while manufacturing accounted for 12.1%. How can manufacturing grow without investment, policies and a feeder system? Through higher education. STEM training drives innovation, competitiveness, employment and productivity, while helping reduce economic disparities. Coupled with Artificial Intelligence, it can help professionals and aspirants improve their skills.
Reform must begin with an end to government interference in faculty appointments. Independent panels should choose institutional leaders with a vision for modern, technical and skill-based education, then give them freedom to act. Colleges and universities must be funded well, with money spent on laboratories, hostels, dining halls and sports facilities. Even top universities lack bathrooms and safe hostels, let alone modern laboratories. Institutional heads must hire suitable faculty and give younger academics independence. Deans and department chairs mired in bureaucratic practices should make way for people able to impart knowledge and prepare students for jobs and enterprise.
Industry and academia must overcome their mutual disdain. Academia regards industry as pompous and prone to overselling; industry sees academia as outdated and detached from real-world needs. Both perceptions contain truth, but innovation and employment require collaboration. The walls between them must be replaced by a free-flowing relationship, supported by university programmes and public funding. Universities should become strategic instruments for local industry and receive incentives for R&D in semiconductors, alternative energy, AI and biotechnology.
Development without social justice is meaningless. Greater industry participation must not make public universities unaffordable. Strong social sciences and humanities programmes must be supported. Sitharaman said the system produced degree-holders unprepared for employment, enterprise or family businesses, adding that the government could do little beyond nudging the private sector until demand encouraged investment. The obvious question is: what has the government been doing for 12 years? Has the cockroach movement prompted this course correction?
The acknowledgement is welcome, but words need to be backed by action. Many aspects of the National Education Policy are in a shambles owing to inadequate preparation. The next tests will be how much funding the government allocates to education as a percentage of GDP and whom it appoints to lead higher educational institutions. These choices will show whether it is serious about reform.