Srinagar, Oct. 20 -- India's education system is trapped in a syllabus-first mindset while the world demands skills-first thinkers. Unless learning shifts from rote to relevance, the country's demographic dividend risks becoming a demographic debt.

Each year, India produces an army of graduates-over 1.5 million engineers and millions more in humanities, business, and science. Yet the reality is stark. According to Aspiring Minds' National Employability Report (2024), only one in five engineering graduates is employable in their core field, and fewer than five percent can code to professional standards.

India's universities are minting degrees, not capabilities; certificates, not competence. The result is a generation academically qualif...