Srinagar, June 26 -- The problem is multi-layered. One, our education system is still largely traditional with zero focus on skill development. Most graduates finish their formal education without any meaningful exposure to work environments. Internships, apprenticeships. Besides, collaboration with industries remains exception, not norm. Similarly, campus placements are rare, and structured career counselling is practically non-existent. This is why, young people, armed with degrees but no practical experience, are routinely turned away from jobs, being told they are too inexperienced for roles they were never trained for in the first place.

The solution to this is reforming our education system, which hasn't changed in decades. There i...