Tapping On The Potential Of The Youth

Context: World Population Day is marked on July 11 to focus attention on the importance of population­related issues. It is critical that we safeguard young people’s well-being because India’s welfare hinges on them.

India’s demographic dividend potential: At 253 million, India’s adolescent population is among the largest. Over 62% of India is aged between 15 and 59 years, and the median age of the population is less than 30 years.

• Huge economic potential:  This opens up the potential for economic growth based on the age structure of the population. For E.g. East Asia’s economic rise of 1965-90 was due to a favourable demographic structure.

Population related issues: There are certain challenges in efficient utilisation of demographic dividend -  

      

• Narrowing window for leveraging demographic dividend:As last year UNDP report and The Lacent study cites, India will stabilise its population 12 years earlier than expected.
• Underfunded education system: 
  • According to World Bank, public expenditure on education constituted 4.4% of GDP in 2019 and only 3.4% of GDP in 2020.
  • Another report revealed that India stands 62nd in terms of public expenditure per student and fares badly in quality of education measures such as student-teacher ratios.
• Pandemic impacts on adolescents: 
  • Impact on mental well-being: International Labour Organization survey reveals that 17% of young people are likely to be suffering from anxiety and depression.
  • Rise in dropout: Especially girls to drop out—a  significant number of 15.8 crore female learners in India are unlikely to go back to school due to increased poverty and spurt in early marriages.
  • Learning loss: ILO survey reveals that 65% of adolescents worldwide reported having learnt less during pandemic.
  • Shadow pandemic: Adolescent girls at higher risk of gender-based violence, vulnerability to abuse and trafficking etc.

Way forward

• Recalibrate pandemic mitigation measures: Policymakers need to balance risks of transmission through children with the harm of prolonged school closures. Different policy measures to look into include- 
• Prioritising vaccination of teachers and school support staff.
• Decentralised approach: District-level officials may reopen schools based on local transmission rates in a phased manner. In Odisha, community schools have reopened in some areas.
• Innovation and creativity in learning: Opening schools with a mix of online and offline options.
• Coordination across departments and ministries:
•  Implement delivery of mid-day meal schemes during school closures through collaboration between the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
• Teachers can work as volunteers for collaborating with frontline health workers to distribute sanitary napkins to girls.
• Address mental health of adolescents through outreach via existing helplines and by enabling conversations on critical issues regarding their reproductive and sexual health.