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.