Prof D Mukherjee
mukhopadhyay.dinabandhu@gmail.com
India’s higher education system is widely regarded as the world’s third largest, after China and the United States. Yet, despite its vast scale, concerns persist regarding its overall quality, particularly when compared to the more globally competitive systems of the US and China, both of which combine large enrolments with strong research output and high employability. India’s network includes more than 1,000 universities – covering central, state, deemed, private institutions, IITs, NITs, IISc, ICAI, ICMAI, ICSI and other premier schools – along with nearly 52,000 colleges. However, global evaluations continue to highlight gaps in academic reputation, research influence, and graduate readiness.Although India has improved its visibility in international rankings, such as the QS Asia University Rankings where 162 institutions appeared in 2025, performance remains modest on key indicators such as employer reputation and citation impact.
At the same time, India’s Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in higher education stands at roughly 25 percent, meaning only one in four eligible youth enrol in tertiary education, compared to significantly higher participation in China and the United States. China, with more than 3,000 higher-education institutions, consistently performs strongly in global rankings and research metrics, while US universities maintain leadership in innovation, entrepreneurship, and industry collaboration.Despite its massive educational infrastructure, India continues to face challenges in research productivity, institutional perception, and graduate employability. This contrast highlights a core policy dilemma: while India has achieved impressive expansion in quantity, it has yet to match global benchmarks in quality. The crucial issue, therefore, is how to better integrate education with employability to ensure that India’s demographic potential translates into meaningful and sustainable economic growth.
India’s higher education system is widely recognised as the world’s third largest, after China and the United States. Yet, despite its vast scale, concerns about educational quality persist, especially when compared with the more globally competitive systems of the US and China, which combine large enrolments with strong academic performance. India hosts more than 1,000 universities – including central, state, deemed, private institutions, IITs, NITs, IISc, ICAI, ICMAI, ICSI and other premier bodies – along with nearly 52,000 affiliated colleges. However, global evaluations continue to highlight deficits in international reputation, research output, and employability outcomes.
Although Indian institutions have expanded their representation in rankings such as the QS Asia University Rankings, with 162 institutions appearing in the 2025 edition, their performance in employer reputation, citation impact, and academic standing remains limited compared to top Chinese and American universities. At the same time, India’s Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) stands at about 25 percent, indicating that only one-fourth of eligible youth pursue higher education, far below participation levels in China and the US. China, with over 3,000 institutions, continues to dominate research publications and global rankings, while US universities maintain leadership in innovation, entrepreneurship, and industry collaboration.
Thus, despite its massive infrastructure, India faces persistent challenges in research productivity, institutional credibility, and graduate employability. This contrast exposes a central dilemma: while India has achieved impressive expansion in scale, it has not matched global benchmarks in quality. The key question, therefore, is how India can better integrate education with employability so its demographic advantage translates into genuine economic and developmental progress.
Recent employability data highlights growing concern about the industry readiness of Indian graduates. The Mercer-Mettl Graduate Skill Index 2025 shows that only 42.6% of graduates are employable, down from 44.3% in 2023, indicating a widening deficit-especially in essential soft skills such as communication, creativity, and analytical reasoning. The Economic Survey 2023-24 similarly reports that only 51.25% of graduates are “job-ready.” Although this reflects improvement from earlier decades (around 34%), it still means that almost half of all degree-holders do not meet industry expectations.Unemployment trends deepen this concern. The Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) 2022-23 records a modest decline in the unemployment rate among graduates aged 15 and above-from 14.9% to 13.4%-but this does not capture widespread underemployment or weak job quality.
More striking are findings from the ILO-IHD India Employment Report, which reveal that educated youth face disproportionately high unemployment: in 2022, graduate unemployment reached 29.1%, compared to only 3.4% among those without formal education. The report also notes that 83% of India’s unemployed population consists of youth, many of whom are educated, showing that degrees alone do not guarantee stable employment.Collectively, these indicators demonstrate that although access to higher education has expanded, India continues to struggle in ensuring that academic qualifications translate into meaningful, sustainable employment. The persistent mismatch between education and labour-market demands limits the nation’s ability to fully leverage its growing graduate base.
Multiple structural weaknesses within India’s higher education system continue to fuel its growing unemployability challenge. Central to this issue is a persistent skills mismatch: academic programs often remain disconnected from industry needs, leaving graduates without practical or job-ready competencies. Traditional, lecture-driven teaching further limits the development of critical thinking, innovation, and entrepreneurial mindset. Equally serious is the deficit in non-technical skills-communication, teamwork, creativity, and problem-solving-which the Mercer-Mettl report identifies as a major reason for low employability.Industry-academia collaboration is also insufficient.
Many universities lack strong corporate partnerships, consistent internship pipelines, and structured curriculum co-design, resulting in limited exposure to real business environments. Quality disparities across institutions worsen the problem. Despite having over 1,000 universities and 50,000 colleges, many struggle with weak faculty, inadequate research culture, poor governance, or substandard infrastructure, producing uneven learning outcomes.The limited focus on lifelong learning and reskilling adds to the challenge. Rapid global shifts-automation, digitalisation, and evolving job models-demand ongoing skill renewal, yet curricula often remain static with few opportunities for upskilling or mid-career learning.
Additionally, fragmented regulation and bureaucratic hurdles restrict institutional agility, slowing curricular innovation and alignment with industry expectations.Collectively, these gaps prevent higher education from producing employment-ready graduates. Instead of fostering adaptable, future-focused talent, many institutions continue awarding degrees without the competencies required in modern labour markets, thereby deepening the unemployability crisis and constraining India’s demographic potential.
Closing the persistent gap between education and employability in India requires a systemic shift anchored in long-term collaboration between academia and industry. As India transitions toward a knowledge-driven economy, aligning curricula, pedagogy, and governance with evolving corporate needs is essential. Strengthening industry-academia partnerships is the first step. These ties must move from occasional interactions to structured frameworks where industry co-designs curricula, sponsors sectoral labs, mentors students, and supports capstone or applied research projects. Expanding internships, apprenticeships, and cooperative education will provide crucial hands-on exposure and help employers develop prepared talent pipelines.
Curricular and pedagogical renewal is equally vital. Lecture-heavy instruction must give way to experiential models. Project-based tasks, case studies, hackathons, and interdisciplinary assignments can build problem-solving abilities and operational readiness. Embedding transversal skills-communication, leadership, creativity, design thinking, and digital literacy-across disciplines is critical for preparing graduates for rapidly evolving workplaces. Modular courses and micro-credentials linked to specific job roles can further provide flexible, market-relevant learning.These changes require enhanced institutional autonomy, paired with strong quality assurance through metrics such as placement rates, employer feedback, and job relevance.
A future-ready employability ecosystem also depends on promoting lifelong learning. With fast technological shifts, institutions and industry must expand continuing education, certification programs, and hybrid learning formats that enable professionals to “unlearn, relearn, and upskill” throughout their careers.A supportive regulatory environment is crucial. Policymakers should incentivise employability-focused outcomes, promote public-private partnerships, strengthen innovation ecosystems, and ensure transparency through regular publication of employment data. National employability councils combining academia, industry, and government can improve labour-market monitoring and guide timely reforms.
Bridging education with employability has become one of India’s most urgent developmental priorities. Although the higher education system has expanded, the ongoing mismatch between academic training and industry expectations limits the nation’s ability to harness its large youth population. A demographic dividend generates value only when supported by relevant skills and institutional mechanisms that translate education into productive work. The growing gap between degrees and employability therefore reflects a systemic challenge requiring coordinated, multi-stakeholder intervention.Educational institutions must adopt more agile, practice-oriented curricula. Learning should emphasise real-world problem-solving, interdisciplinary approaches, and adaptability to evolving labour-market needs. Strengthening internships, integrating industry-led modules, and fostering continuous learning are vital.
Regulatory bodies must also update accreditation norms to prioritise employability outcomes instead of enrolment size or research volume. Greater institutional autonomy-balanced with clear accountability-can support pedagogical innovation, digitisation, and skill-focused reform.Simultaneously, skill-development agencies and continuing-education platforms should expand flexible, modular, and stackable learning options that enable learners to “unlearn” outdated methods and build technology-driven competencies. Embedding lifelong learning into national priorities is essential. Corporates must also deepen their role by co-designing curricula, supporting research labs, and mentoring students, thereby strengthening the practical relevance of higher education. Government and policymakers should foster enabling ecosystems that encourage public-private partnerships, promote innovative training models, and develop robust national employability data systems to support evidence-based decisions.Together, these strategies can transform India’s education system into a responsive, industry-aligned engine of growth and equip youth with the adaptability and skills needed in a rapidly evolving global economy.
(The author is a Bengaluru based educationist, a management scientist and an independent researcher)
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