PANAJI
Underlining the importance of skilling of college graduates, Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Wednesday said that while a government job advertisement for five stenographers attracts only 25 applicants, an overwhelming 25,000 job aspirants respond for five lower-division clerk posts.
Speaking at the inauguration of a two-day seminar ‘DEMYSTIFYING THE NAAC Assessment and Accreditation’, Sawant also said that the New Education Policy would be implemented in the following year.
“If there is a vacancy for a stenographer, the application (ratio) is 5:25, if it is for the post of LDC it is 5:25,000. This is an example of an interview conducted six months back,” Sawant said, adding that educational institutes should make the most of the initiatives launched by the new Ministry of Skill formed by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led central government.
“Unless we skill our students, mere graduation will have no scope,” Sawant said.
“There is a need for out-of-the-box thinking. For so many years, we have been grooming graduate students, BA, BCom, BSc. It feels sad to even wonder if we are grooming students of quality. How many of them are working towards their future on their own?” the Chief Minister said.
He also rued the quality of graduates being churned out by educational institutes in the state while cautioning against the setting up of institutions that offer generic graduation courses.
“We will have to shut down some courses at the higher secondary level. We will not be able to permit more and more BA and BCom colleges. People come to me for sanctions to start BA BCom colleges and I ask them why. 50 per cent of the students after doing their graduation are sitting idle at home,” Sawant said.
“You know why I feel bad, that after post-graduation after doing their MA or MCom or MSc, students ask me, ‘what should I do now? I do not know what to do’” he said.
Speaking about the implementation of the New Education Policy, Sawant said: “We will implement the New Education Policy in the state next year after taking all stakeholders into confidence. We will work towards ensuring how the policy will benefit pre-primary and primary students”.
