India, Aug. 24 -- An amateur made the video on the go, but it went viral on social media: Some girls suddenly barged out of their school to jam the road. They didn't have a leader. Their sit-in had no coordinator or sponsor. It was just spontaneous. They were complaining about how they would be able to study if the school, run by the state social justice department, didn't have enough teachers. The logical arguments these girls marshalled while presenting their case in front of the teachers and the administrators surprised everyone. The girls didn't bother that they caused a huge jam. Overt and covert pressure tactics by the police, the administration, and the crowd didn't faze them. They just wanted to put their pain across to those with the responsibility of turning these talented sparks into guiding torches of the future. This unfolded in Lucknow; chief minister Yogi Adityanath immediately took notice and arranged for adequate teacher strength in the school. Earlier, something similar happened in a school in Rajasthan's Alwar. In a girl's school, students went on strike against the lack of teachers and infrastructure. They didn't listen to the teachers who came to mollify them. The administration had to immediately accede to their demands. Similar scenes are being witnessed in Patna, Sugauli, and Ujjain, among others. Why are Gen Z and Gen Alpha so restless? These incidents occurred suddenly and died down but, in Ranchi, student protests went on for 24 days. Students protested alleged irregularities in Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC) and Jharkhand Service Selection Commission (JSSC) exams. Chief minister Hemant Soren acceptedmost of the demands. Jharkhand police arrested the Commission's former chairman, L Khiangte, along with 20 others while the interrogation of many more was underway, but the students were adamant on cancellation of the exams. The state government was in a bind as many of those who cleared the exams had joined the jobs they had been selected for. They couldn't be removedsuddenly. Despite this, last Monday, thegovernment ceded even to this demand. But the whirlwind refuses to die - those who lost their jobs in Jharkhand are now sitting in protest. Some of them had left other government jobs and successfully cleared the exams to secure their new jobs. They ask why should they be made to pay for the wrongdoings of others - after all, not all the 20,240 who got recruited, secured it by cheating. As of now, they have got relief from the Jharkhand High Court. The Court paused the state government order on blanketcancellation of the exams. The Gen Z protests at New Delhi's Jantar Mantar, and now, Gen Alpha and millennial's civil disobedience signal a huge churn. There's no similarity in their backgrounds and reasons. There is no evidence that they worked in tandem. Their states are different, but the common thread that runs through all of them is they have all dared to raise their voice against injustice. If we look closely at the undercurrents of these protests, we will find two triggers - education and employment. The protestsat Jantar Mantar were against theNEET question paper leaks. A general category applicant needed to be in the 99th percentile to secure a seat in a government medical college. Where will the rest of the aspirants go, then? They too deserve to live, breathe and have a productive life in the country. I have just discussed medical entrance exams here. I am sure we will find similar situations if we turn our lens to government engineering colleges or other professional educational institutions. According to the national medical commission there are just 1,36,939 graduate medical education seats in the country. You will be surprised to know that while government medical colleges account for 63,296 seats, the private sector has more 73,643. What explains the clamour for government medical colleges, then? The biggest reason is private medical colleges charge close to Rs.1 crore per graduate student despite having fewer facilities and faculty than government colleges. Data tells us at least 40% more medical seats are required in the country. This gap ismaking medical education expensive and treatment scarce. The condition of primary and secondary schools is even worse. There are places where there's a government school, but no building. Sometimes, where there are buildings, there are not enough teachers. If teachers are present, there's no proper school furniture. In the Hindi heartland, you can still witness four classes being run on one verandah. At some places, schools are being run in a temple or in a community hall. How can we expect focus and concentration from the teachers and the students under such conditions? Let's now look at employment. A report by Azim Premji University says that, in the year 2023, 39% of the graduates under the age of 25 were unemployed. This situation is worse than the 35% unemploymentrate in 1983. This clearly shows why the young are agitated. Why don't our leaders rise above political compulsions to initiate a serious debateon the issue? It's easy to disrupt Parliament on the issue of exams, but why is it sodifficult to conduct deep debate andinitiate long-term action plans foreducation, exams and employment?...