With 356 million 10 to 24-year-olds, India has the world's largest youth population despite having a smaller population than China, revealed a report published by the United Nations in 2014. The report said that 28% of India's population is 10 to 24-year-olds, adding that the global number of youths is the highest ever.
Never before has there been an abundance of young people and never again is there likely to be such potential for economic and social growth at a global scale. How the youth is moulded today will determine the prosperity of the world in the future.
As of 2015, India's youth illiteracy population is 25 million. Youth illiteracy is the total number of youths between age 15 and age 24 who cannot both read and write without understanding a short simple statement in their everyday life. Although the problem of youth illiteracy has improved for good over the last few decades, we have not progressed as much as we could with the advent and availability of technology as well as the funds provided by the government. Developing countries with large youth populations could see their economies soar, provided they invest heavily in young people's education and health and protect their rights. Although this issue has been dealt with to a great extent, it still remains an important one, and the government funds and ever-improving technology standards are bound to help.
Let alone the portion of the society that is straitened and indigent. The privileged youth of the society can definitely work towards achieving a better tomorrow. Currently, of the 356 million youth that our country possesses, more than 330 million have access to education, which is a substantial number to bring about the change that the country is lacking. Any country can be built into an empire that one envisions if the young population is given goals and directions in achieving targets that are chalked out. Every year, we see a portion of youth pushed to poverty. This can be overcome by the contribution of the privileged section. By crowd funds and investments, the youth can give them decent education and help them thrive in a fast-paced world which also contributes to the growth of the country as a whole. Through volunteering, they can work from the grassroots level of forming a better society. We as a country should groom our existing youth population to achieve a future that the world demands. The question is whether we really are utilizing the power of the youth to its maximum?
This question naturally gets us to think about factors restricting the desired growth. This is when reality strikes ⎼ the youth are glued to social-networking portals and OTT platforms among the others. We tend to prioritize watching the first episode of a TV series over preparing for the next day's class. The fact that overall academic performance in schools and colleges has improved over the decades, is undeniable. But it is also important to equip the youth with the right skills that help build their careers. It is very important to strike a balance between academics and activities. More often than not, life skills and discipline that we acquire through these activities help us perform better in the workplace, rather than when we completely rely on skills that the job demands.
The youth should be allowed to experiment with their likes and talents, and not be suppressed by societal pressure. Parents and teachers should instigate confidence and a sense of responsibility and accountability in their children. They must be at a place of mutual trust and respect. Most importantly, youngsters must understand the value of obedience and freedom that they are provided with.
The youth need to be imbibed with values and morale so that tomorrow, we can live in harmony in a country that has been blessed with a diversity of cultures. We need to learn to respect fellow human beings irrespective of their caste, creed or colour. There is a lot that we can do although we are kids, adolescents, teenagers. One doesn’t necessarily have to get a job and earn a five-figure salary to do something that would contribute to the development of our country.
There are two ways in which India's great generation might change the world. It might fail and make it a darker, vile and angrier place. Or, it may succeed and discover the answers to the questions about the future that everyone is asking. The choice is ours to make.
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