I train students in English Language Communication Skills in an Engineering college. Recently while I was lecturing in my crowded classroom of 60 students, I mentioned the survey conducted by FICCI (Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry) and NASSCOM (National Association of Software Services Companies) and the results of their survey. Briefing them about the findings of the survey I told them that the survey revealed that only 15 to 25 percent of the students who pass out of Indian universities are fit to be employed as they lack the skills needed to perform efficiently. Then I just made a calculation to find out if we go by the findings of those two professional bodies how many students of my class would find jobs in corporate organizations. I arrived at a figure that is 15. 15%of 60 is 9 and 25%of 60 is 15. So I took the maximum figure and fired a question at my students asking how many of them visualize themselves finding a place among the fifteen who would be smart enough to grab the limited opportunities. I asked them to raise their hands. And surprisingly fifteen students raised their hands, and others were looking hesitant. They were in a quandary whether to raise or not?

 This did not happen only in one class. It happened in three classes. May be it is a mere coincidence, but the incident reveals significant things about the standards of the Indian students. After knowing the fact that only fifteen students are optimistic of finding a suitable job opportunity, I started the damage control exercise. Somewhere at the bottom of my heart I felt a guilty feeling. Did I discourage my students? Did I demean their status? Is this the right thing to do?  Because the first thing I learnt in my teaching career is never make negative remarks on the students and never discourage them. So I actually wanted them to be optimistic about their future, I wanted them to see a bright future for themselves. My intention behind telling them about the surveys was to make them aware of the real situation and forewarn them about what may happen if they don't raise their standards.  So I tried to boost their confidence by telling them that they need not worry about the surveys and advised them to be more ambitious and see bright future for themselves. Then I just analyzed for a while why did only fifteen students raised their hands? Is this an indication that the surveys conducted by those two professional bodies hold true? After using my intuitive judgment I came to the conclusion that the survey findings may be right to some extent but they can’t be completely right. When I posed the question I expected all the students to raise their hands, because whether they have the capabilities or not, they should first have faith in their abilities and they should strongly believe that they will be able to find opportunities. But that was not the case. Seventy five percent of the students kept quiet and it appeared that they see a bleak future for themselves.

What might be the reasons behind their passivity? I thought about the incidents for some days and finally I came to the conclusion that many students indeed see a bleak future for themselves. Some of the students, though they have the capabilities, hesitated to raise their hands because the students next to them did not raise their hands. As a teacher with around ten years of experience I observed that there is something called bandwagon effect that works on the student community in Indian classrooms. Many students look at their classmates sitting next to them and then they raise their hands. May be they don't want themselves to be isolated and want to go with the wind. Some might even thought that the public expression of confidence may encourage their peers to make fun of them. I often saw students poking fun at each other Oh! You are going to get a job? Which is your dream company? May be we will be seeing you driving around in a luxury car after two years! So this kind of comments are not unusual. So instead of appreciating the confident attitude of their peers they make fun of them. So they want to be immune from those comments. Some students might even thought that if we raise our hands I(the teacher) may ask some more probing questions and may trouble them. He may ask us about our future plans and ambitions. We may not be able to come up with appropriate answers. So amidst all these apprehensions they just keep quiet and don't want to expose themselves. So this kind of attitude and lack of confidence in their own future made me feel sad. May be those surveys are right to some extent but as a teacher my job is to bring about improvement among them and give them lot of positive inputs and boost their confidence.

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