The rising unemployability among Kerala’s educated youth has brought the state government to the classrooms. The higher education department has mooted fundamental changes in the structure of collegiate education, the central piece being four-year degree courses, to be introduced from the 2024-25 academic session. The state expects that the new undergraduate course, shaped under University Grants Commission (UGC) directives, will brighten the career prospects of youth.
Nearly 40 per cent of Kerala’s educated youth—23 per cent of the state’s population—have remained unemployed in the last five decades. Kerala hasthan men presents a stark half-empty glass: 50.6 per cent in rural areas and 51.8 per cent in urban areas, states the Economic Survey. After analysing the core issues behind this endemic problem, the state on its part has launched several programmes for skill development and employment generation. It conducted the Additional Skill Acquisition Programme and job melas with the participation of private companies, and offered additional courses in Artificial Intelligence, blockchain technology, big data analysis and gene editing etc.
