Content:

1. Steep decline
2. Don’t merely enrol students, but equip them with skills

Steep Decline

Industrial Output & Core Sector Slowdown

• IIP Growth: Slowed to 2.7% in April 2025, an 8-month low and nearly half of last April’s 5.2%.
• Core Sector Growth: Declined to 0.5% in April, sharply down from 6.9% in April 2024.
• Weightage Link: Core sectors comprise ~40% of IIP — their slowdown directly affects overall industrial output.

Relevance : GS 2 ( Governance, Education)

Practice Question : Despite policy initiatives, India’s higher education system continues to produce unemployable graduates. Examine the underlying issues and suggest structural reforms to bridge the education-employment gap.(Answer in 250 words)

Sector-Specific Performance (April 2025)

• Mining: Contracted by 0.2%, the first decline since August 2024.
  • Though mining exports grew from $25 bn (FY15) to $42 bn (FY25), their share in total exports dropped from 8.1% to 5.1%.
• Manufacturing: Slowed to 3.4% from 4.2% last April.
• Power Generation: Sharply fell to 1.1% from 10.2% a year earlier.

Persistent Rural Consumption Weakness

• Consumer Non-Durables: Contracted output for third straight month, indicating poor rural demand.
• Despite retail inflation hitting a 6-year low (3.16%), it hasn’t boosted rural consumption.
• Food Price Contraction: Sixth straight month of decline to 2.14%, leading to mandi prices below MSP for staples.

Structural Concerns

• Low rural spending despite low inflation: Indicates income stress in rural areas, not just inflation-related demand compression.
• Weak implementation of MSP: Prevents income stability for farmers, curbing rural purchasing power.
• Trade-related uncertainties: Tariffs and global price instability have likely disrupted manufacturing momentum.

Positive Signals

• Capital Goods Output: Surged 20.3% in April, albeit from a low base — reflects investor confidence and capex revival.
• Indicates ongoing efforts to diversify exports and reduce dependency on the U.S.

Policy Recommendations

• Systematic implementation of MSP to boost rural incomes and drive demand for essential goods.
• Encourage private sector capital expenditure to generate employment and increase domestic demand.
• Export sectors should diversify:
  • Geographically: Beyond U.S. & EU.
  • Strategically: Build domestic production resilience to absorb global shocks (tariffs, supply chains).

Don’t merely enrol students, but equip them with skills

Core Issue: Degree-Employability Paradox

• Despite rising enrolments at UG, PG, and PhD levels, job opportunities aren’t keeping pace.
• Higher education paradox: Unemployment increases with higher educational attainment.
• Most affected: Students from Tier 2 & Tier 3 non-elite institutions (BA, BCom, BSc streams).

Relevance : GS 2(Governance ,Education )

Practice Question : Recent trends in industrial output and core sector performance highlight a complex slowdown despite stable inflation. Analyse the causes behind this divergence and suggest policy responses to revive demand and industrial momentum.(Answer in 250 words)

Structural Challenges in Non-Elite Colleges

• Resource-deficient institutions lack industry ties and updated curricula.
• Focus remains on theoretical knowledge; practical and employability skills are sidelined.
• Examples:
  • English graduates unaware of professional communication.
  • Economics graduates unfamiliar with basic tools like Excel.

Cultural and Academic Disconnect

• Academic culture prizes abstraction and scholarship over practical utility.
• PGs and PhDs often pursued as a refuge from joblessness, not intellectual passion.
• Vicious cycle: Graduates return to teach in the same broken system.

Policy Attempts & Their Shortfalls

• Government schemes like Skill India, NEP 2020, Start-Up India have acknowledged the gap.
• Implementation remains shallow and fragmented.
• New-age courses (AI, entrepreneurship) introduced, but often lack depth and integration.

Global Comparison: China & Japan

• Successfully aligned vocational education with industrial/economic needs.
• In India, vocational training is stigmatized and seen as inferior to degree education.

Wider Societal Issue

• Degrees are perceived as symbols of mobility, but don’t ensure it.
• Liberal education is still valuable for creativity, but must also translate into livelihood.

Proposed Solutions

• Embed skill-based modules (digital literacy, data analysis, budgeting, etc.) into degree curricula.
• Doctoral programmes should train students for careers in policy, industry, analytics, development — not just academia.
• Reframe education as a social contract — promising learning linked with livelihood.
• Reduce over-reliance on government jobs by boosting private and entrepreneurial pathways.

Conclusion

• India needs an education system that not only admits students but equips them.
• The focus must shift from degrees to deliverables — skills, jobs, and dignity of work.