AASU flags alarming brain drain as students leave for better courses, opportunities

Guwahati, Nov 29: Assam and other states in the region are facing serious brain drain, as thousands of students leave every year for studies and very few return after completing their studies. Unfortunately, it is more of a one-way traffic, as a very small number of students from outside come to Assam for studies.

An interesting fact is that the government or any other agency in the State does not have any data on the number of students who go for studies outside the region.

When contacted by The Assam Tribune, All Assam Students' Union (AASU) president Utpal Sarma admitted that the one-way traffic of students from Assam and other states of the region is a matter of great concern. He said that students from outside visit Assam to study only in the IIT and medical colleges, while students from the State go to various educational institutions across the country.

He said that one of the major reasons for this trend is that job-oriented courses are not provided by the colleges and universities of the State.

Giving an example, Sarma revealed that Delhi University offers as many as 86 courses, while Gauhati University offers only 48. Dibrugarh University has 34 departments and centres. On the other hand, JNU offers 70 courses.

If the students do not get the courses they want to study here, they will be forced to go outside, he said.

Sarma said that it is not enough if courses offered by the universities of the State can only make students employable for third and fourth-grade jobs. Education should be synonymous with employability, and keeping this in mind, the colleges and universities must introduce new courses.

He also stressed the need for industry-academia relations. Colleges and universities should sign agreements with industries and prepare students accordingly.

The AASU president pointed out that a number of industries are coming up in the State after Advantage Assam 2. The semiconductor project is also coming up. But the question is whether the State has adequately trained manpower to work in those industries? If local youths are capable of only third and fourth-grade jobs, that is unfortunate, he said.

Sarma also pointed out that huge amounts of money are going out of the State every year. If a student gets a seat in a government institute and stays in a hostel, then at least Rs 1.5 lakh a year is required. If a student goes to study in a private institute, the amount will be much higher - which means crores of rupees are going out of the State every year, he said.

Sarma further said that the government cannot solve the problem of unemployment by providing jobs. But unfortunately, the budget for start-ups and innovation is not at all adequate. The government is spending much more money on beneficiary schemes than trying to provide self-employment avenues, he said.