Punjab staring at youth drain
Punjab is staring at a youth drain. The rate at which students opting for overseas to pursue higher studies - and, mostly with no intention of returning to, and enriching, their motherland - points to this disturbing trend. It is said 90,000 students from Punjab flew out last year. The crowds of local youth were thinner in all universities, including private. This trend is now established though admissions will continue for more than a month: student activists as well as academics have expressed disappointment. The hot cakes of yesteryears - engineering and management - have particularly fallen on hard times. The only streams that have the Punjabi youth enthusiastic about are ones which again have a high potential of brain drain, such as pharmacy, nursing and agriculture.
Many private colleges are bracing themselves for an additional shock when some of their new applicants are selected in universities abroad. The thirst for an overseas clime is so strong that students are forsaking three-year degree courses here for one-year diploma courses abroad. They could be making a mess of their careers. It is not as if things are rosy across the seas. And, scores of 'immigration and study abroad' consultancies, thriving on this phenomenon, fail to emphasise on this likely pitfall. Worse, not every student makes it to the top-league college in the country of his destination. Often, students abroad end up in institutes faring not quite differently from the ones they had rejected back home.
It is in the interest of the private higher education sector to pull itself out of the morass of a poor faculty that compels prospective students to pay an extra buck to study abroad. In the end, quality counts especially when the economy's masts are dipping: an institute that offers teachers the best in the industry will definitely attract local students, who will, in turn, give their best to society. The trend may well reverse but the education sector can ill afford to rest on that assumption. Already there are reports of some universities finding themselves in a financial pickle. Moreover, we cannot let our youth down.
