Gold medal, no job: Inside the irony of Indian 'Merit'

India Today

03-07-2025

It was a cold January morning when Swati Mishra, a gold medalist from Delhi University, sat refreshing her inbox for the 47th time that week. She had it all, stellar grades, ten shining medals, fifty certificates, and the prized "University Topper" title. Her family had already started referring to her as Professor Mishra as if it were a certainty. But job offer? Internship? Even a callback?advertisementNothing.Then she did what most frustrated Gen Z achievers do: she took to LinkedIn. "No job. No internship. Nothing. Companies don't want toppers who only mug up notes," she wrote in a brutally honest post that quickly went viral. In a country that reveres the academic topper like a demi-god, the irony couldn't be more striking.THE NUMBERS THAT DON'T ADD UP
According to the Mercer | Mettl India Graduate Skill Index 2024, only 42.6% of Indian graduates are employable , a decline from 44.3% the previous year. The report cited a lack of practical skills, weak communication, and outdated curricula as key reasons behind the fall. The situation is worse in technical education. India produces nearly 9 lakh engineering graduates every year, yet more than half struggle to find employment in core or relevant industries , a long-standing issue flagged in reports by the AICTE and NASSCOM.advertisementMeanwhile, data from the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) 2023-24 shows a striking contrast:Unemployment among graduates is estimated at 29.1%,While illiterate youth have an unemployment rate of just 3.4%.
THE TOPPERS' TRAPSo, how did we get here?The Indian education system, especially in public and traditional universities, still leans heavily on memory-based testing and theoretical knowledge. Real-world application, internships, communication, collaboration, and adaptability skills most in demand today are often missing from syllabi. In her viral post, Swati pointed to this gap:"We are pushed to memorise. Not to practice."REAL VOICES, REAL FRUSTRATIONSAnother LinkedIn post that caught public attention was by Lovish Anand, who shared findings from the same Mettl report, stating: "Indian degrees are not useless. But when only 42.6% of grads are employable, we can't just keep blaming students. Institutions must evolve. His post triggered wide engagement from educators and hiring managers alike, many agreeing that "gold medals don't guarantee job readiness anymore."A CURRICULUM FROZEN IN TIMEA 2022 report from India Today on Youth Skill Day showed that over 60% of employers feel graduates lack soft skills, and over 50% feel students are poorly trained in practical industry tools. As a result, many companies now hire based on skills-first assessments rather than just academic scores. This trend has been amplified by the rise of skilling platforms and bootcamps, such as Scaler, Masai School, and upGrad, which are offering intensive, job-focused training.REBUILDING 'MERIT'advertisementTo be clear, merit still matters-but it needs a serious redefinition.Being a "topper" today doesn't automatically imply employability unless it's paired with practical exposure, adaptability, and emotional intelligence. Institutions across India are slowly waking up to this:The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 proposes a multidisciplinary, skill-based approach.Some private universities like Ashoka, Shiv Nadar, and FLAME already integrate experiential learning into their curriculum.But in most public institutions-where the bulk of India's youth are enrolled-rote learning remains the dominant currency. India's obsession with academic medals has created an ecosystem where students chase marks over meaning, memory over mastery. But employers aren't impressed anymore.The world is asking: Can you solve a problem? Communicate your idea? Work with a team? And for that, a gold medal just isn't enough.- Ends