Benefits of Life Time Tracking Of Students After Graduation from University

By Biju Vithayathil
In this fast changing ever competitive
world, we see many trying to adorn themselves with a few degrees, which they
think would possibly help them in the job market of today. The so-called
degrees that they attain is an outcome of around 20 years of indulgence with
the education system that starts right from their pre schools, schooling and
then university levels of too structured education system framed by the
society. With this 20 years of education, are we sure of equipping a person for
next 50 years of productive life? This defies all logic because we live in a
complex world intertwined with technological and social changes. Hence to
presume that you can mould anyone effectively in this fast changing scenario is
highly exaggerated. These ‘touch points’ seem inadequate to equip the young
generation for challenges ahead. With technological breakthroughs rapidly
shifting frontiers, it is a threat for us if our education system cannot manage
such transformations wisely. Universities/centers of higher learning hence
either has to change radically or fade into oblivion.
So the pertinent question is, how we
equip our young generation with the skill sets they need for effective
work/life without getting redundant and adding on specific skill sets as
technology and economy evolves. This is where the future of education has to
be; like companies or organizations track their customers through CRM (Customer
Relationship Management), may be Universities/centers of higher learning also
needs to track their students/consumers overtime. This is an alien concept to
most centers. Looking at it from a management perspective, it is akin to
producing a product and let it run for 50-60 years without any improvement/modification.
Isn’t it absurd? Opencourse wares/ short term courses/certification programs
currently cater to this segment but fundamental emphasis is still on the degree
granting mode.
While I say that Universities/centers
of higher learning need to perhaps evolve the same needs to happen with
organizations as well. The Human Resource departments of organizations need to
be very alert and accommodative in digging out candidates who have the apt
skill sets for their jobs. The emphasis on the word ‘employability’ has often
cropped up in connection with recruitment. This perhaps points to the fact that
employers take a call on candidate’s personality, other things being equal
(qualifications etc). The assumption here is that overtime the person will
evolve and acquire qualities/skills which are necessary for the organization
but in today’s scenario when employment cycle is short especially in emerging
areas of technology, perhaps it will be wiser for organizations to take
onboard, candidates with specific skill sets and from the candidates side as
new technology emerges, they get trained in the same and get equipped. So what
essentially I am trying to tell is organizations need to delink degrees from jobs and there exist few progressive
organizations like Microsoft who has been implementing this to some extent.
Hence, how will all these emerge….it will be interesting to see.
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