Women at the forefront, again |
Anoosheh says she knows exactly why she spent 15 to 16 hours a day at the Jantar Mantar protest. The class 12 student moved from Uttar Pradesh to the capital two years ago to study and attend coaching classes for NEET, the national-level entrance exam for undergraduate medical school.
Staying at a paying guest accommodation away from family, the daughter of government school teachers, like so many students of her generation, grew up with the idea that education was the key to a better life, that hard work would not go unrewarded and that merit would lead to financial security, autonomy and dignity.
For many young people today, that promise has turned out to be increasingly hollow.
Over half of India’s graduates are unemployed, according to the government’s Periodic Labour Force Survey. So, education does not guarantee a job. A degree does not always open doors to opportunity. And clearing a tough competitive exam to get admission into a coveted course is a gamble where those who cheat game the system.
Nobody knows just how many papers from how many exams have been leaked. Some sources put it at 152 papers affecting 7.5 crore students since 2014.
When a paper is leaked, as NEET was in May this year, the exams are cancelled and every student who has slogged for years, sacrificing sleep, family time and a social life, must take them again. Not everybody has the means or the will to go through the grind again. This year, around two lakh fewer students took the re-exam.
“I don’t want to be back here next year. I want my future to be secure,” says........