Various occasions luring audiences of diverse  backgrounds and featuring speakers of all hues from both open platforms and restricted ones are abuzz with a virtual unanimous view that only education can provide many-sided dividends such as a) saying goodbye to ignorance, b) transform the land’s people at large into responsible, law-abiding citizens for building a vibrant, stable and progressive nation, c) empower the youth to face the challenges of life, d) bring about the much-needed makeover of human resources from job-seekers to job-creators, thus paving the path of sustaining the country’s social as well as economic well-being, and not the least of all namely, e) address the ongoing process of snatching away livelihood of millions struggling with skills rendered obsolete as a result of advances in technological inventions, in various sectors up for grabs by both industry and public at large taking to new products like fish to water. However, the realisation that education has to contend with school drop-outs as well as graduates in a skill-vacuum is staring at powers that be, whichever political party or coalition  is at the helm.

Even as the land’s masses are helplessly placed in life, following loss of livelihood, while their tradition-bound trades and skills, along with their produce are no longer patronised and supported by their captive customers, we are hearing about strange-sounding terms such as a) artificial intelligence, b) robotics, c) nano-technologies and whatever. The players in these areas are virtually unstoppable in their path.

The points raised in the foregoing paragraphs are bound to arrest, with greater anxiety and seriousness, the attention of whichever government is formed in days ahead on the generally accepted score that providing jobs to everyone in the EPA (Economically Productive Age) sections of the growing population is the onus of the government. The degree of importance for private participation in that task is not to be ignored. The simplest example of loss of livelihood, particularly for the already economically weaker sections of society, which Mysureans can readily notice, is the case of a) plastic carry bags and b) areca sheath cups, trays driving out of business those producing bags out of old newspapers and stitching leaves for producing ootada yele (in Kannada). The global event of digital technology coming up with the ubiquitous camera-phones, resulting in closure of giants in photographic industry in nearly 150 countries, taking away the livelihood of millions is tell-tale.

In the backdrop of the central point of this column, namely technology showing the door to time-honoured trades and livelihoods of millions, it may be said that education assumes a new meaning. That is a) re-training and b) imparting newer skills for the job-aspirants, their annual addition to the nearly 300 million backlog is estimated at 10 million. Can there be any agenda of greater economic dimension to any government than this?