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The recent number put out by Santa Monica an overseas education facilitator of student migration indicates a problem which is being faced by Kerala and a problem which has to be addressed at the very earliest. The most trustworthy and authoritative data on migration is typically the information presented by the Central government in the parliament.
As per the data provided by the Central government, 30,948 individuals from Kerala pursued higher education abroad in 2019. This number represents a significant increase compared to 2016 when the figure stood at 18,428.This data was obtained from passport offices, therefore not leading to people who moved out of the state and also of people who travelled to gulf countries. Kerala has had a history of migrations especially in the 1970’s where a large chunk of the Malayali population would migrate to the gulf in search of jobs. In contemporary times the trajectory of the migration has shifted from the gulf area to Europe and North American countries. The problem with this particular kind of migration as compared to the gulf is that the migration to gulf reaped many benefits to Kerala in the form of remittances therefore sustaining the economy of the state of Kerala. The current migration to Europe and North American countries by the youth is in search of better living standards and another primary reason is the social security benefits offered by these countries. The Youth which migrated to the gulf from Kerala after a certain point of time came back to Kerala after their period of working age as compared to the migration to Europe and North American countries where one of the primary aims of the migration is to attain a Permanent Residency in those countries. The reasons are structural and institutional, the first reason being pointed out is that the higher education sector in Kerala is not equipped with the changing times. Students who study engineering often feel that what they study throughout four years is not relevant in the market, indicating a skill gap in the higher education sector in Kerala. Another reason is the overpoliticization in the higher education sector in Kerala leading to delays in certificates therefore creating an atmosphere of uncertainty in the minds of the youth in Kerala. The number of jobs offered in Kerala and the salary of an individual who work in the IT sector is very low therefore leading to less enthusiasm among the youth in Kerala to work in Kerala. The frequent Hartals and strikes in Kerala create an atmosphere for low growth of industries and manufacturing units therefore increasing unemployment and low job opportunities. The youth unemployment rate in Kerala stands at 40.5 percent leading to a student have only minimal chances of securing a job which he/she aspires to in the state.
Another major aspect which has been negated as a reason of migration is the role of religion as Kerala society is primarily influenced by the role of religion in their day to day lives, in order to escape from orthodox religious practices, the youth often migrate to developed countries in search of personal freedom. A survey conducted by a local regional newspaper called Malayala Manorama in 2022 indicates that the youth population is against moral policing and also going to more developed countries would have less parental control for the youth while they are abroad, indicating that the youth population would like to have a less interference of their religions in their lives and less parental control.
The biggest challenge facing Kerala in the near future is that with the current higher education system which is oriented towards rote learning and less on skill developing there might be more migrations in the future. The primary reason being that a recent study by the Oxford Martin School titled “The Future of Skills: Employment in 2030”s states that by 2030 thirty percent of the jobs that will be available will be the ones that do not exist today therefore the state government has to deeply contemplate on the education sector and the job sector keeping in minds the need of the future otherwise we will see a Kerala which will be a center of the old age population.
These pieces are being published as they have been received – they have not been edited/fact-checked by ThePrint.