THE WEEK's Education Conclave: The era of guaranteed jobs is gone, declares Shashi Tharoor. What does it mean for India's Gen Z?

Shashi Tharoor at THE WEEK's Education Conclave in New Delhi demands change in the Indian education system and revolutionary moments in students' lives.

Lok Sabha member and former Union Minister Shashi Tharoor, in his speech at THE WEEK's Education Conclave in New Delhi, presented a devastating critique of India's education and jobs landscape, and sought another revolution of the mind to help Gen Z. Moderated by Riyad Mathew, Chief Associate Editor and Director, THE WEEK, the session broached topics as varied as parents imposing unnecessary pressures on kids to professional choices to the age-old one of brain drain and English having a bearing on aspirations.

Stable jobs are a relic of the past

Tharoor went on to describe how social and family ambitions used to neatly define career life in India. "There was a period when parents were very reluctant for their children to leave the traditional streams of engineering, medicine, or the civil services," he remembered. "When I informed my teacher that I wanted to pursue the arts, my teacher actually called up my parents and requested an explanation. But my father accepted."

Gen Z today, though, is writing the book differently. "The concept of job security has totally changed," said Tharoor. "Kids today are digital entrepreneurs, conducting data marketing, making reels, connecting businesses. Secure jobs, as we knew them, no longer. They are more entrepreneurial and considerably less committed to the idea of a lifetime employer."

Careers with a cause

Tharoor maintained that a career should, ultimately, be mission-driven. "The real satisfaction is when you are making a difference," he stated. "When you go to bed at night, you should know that you've done something that makes the world a better place." 

Here Tharoor drew a contrast between his life within and beyond the United Nations with his time as MP for Thiruvananthapuram. "In that UN, I was working directly with the refugees and I could see the output of my work. That's not happening here at Thiruvananthapuram. The bypass road connecting Tamil Nadu project had been waiting for 40 years when I joined this organization in 2009. We would chase all the departments to finish it. That was the pre-Gadkari times; you will chase the government for everything," he said, explaining how the governance always occurs in the form of sheer years of patience.

Brain drain: hope and challenges

On the age-old issue of brain drain, Tharoor concurred that India continues to lose its most talented brains overseas. "Whole graduating classes of IITs used to be heading straight to the US," he concurred. "But I also see hope.". When I was the Education Minister, I encountered one Muslim student of IIT Indore who has declined very prestigious foreign scholarships in astrophysics just so he could stay in India and stay with his guru. There are several such tales nowadays. Our young professionals today are far better equipped to stay or return, but we still do not have adequate jobs to fulfill their aspirations.

He also talked about reasons other than economic that compel individuals out. "We can't close our eyes to the social context. Cases of moral policing, especially against young men and women in urban areas like Bengaluru, lead some to violate the prohibitions that they imagine they would have to endure at home," cautioned Tharoor.

Changing tracks from exam fever

One of the other dramatic changes Tharoor advocated was to de-emphasize the excessive reliance on exams at universities. "Exams are not the only proof of knowledge," he argued. "We need to teach children how to think, and not what to think. Our students need to be taught how to question, challenge and innovate."

He also called for progressive changes in college life, particularly in hostel rules likely to impose tougher curfews for women. "We want campuses where young people—particularly women—are respected and treated as equals," he stated.

English and Hinglish: conforming to language realities

Tharoor, a good orator and author, was candid about the English language. "English is second language to all Indians, and in a more globalised world, the language of communication," he asserted.

He continued to add that the language itself is changing with a generational twist. "Gen Z has come up with a new hybrid—Hinglish—that shows how language transcends culture. We need to accept it and not resist it. It's an instrument of opportunity and bonding, not a symbol of colonialism."

A call for revolutionary change

Session ended, Tharoor held his ground in asserting that the education system of India should foster curiosity, imagination, and confidence and not test-takers. "We are living in times when AI and automation will be replacing jobs. If we continue to teach children by rote, we will be driving them into nothing," he insisted.

Tharoor's message was blunt: India's youth already are making their own way, but the dynamism of their movement must be supplemented with structural change, greater productivity, reduced state, and the capacity to keep up with shifting cultural and linguistic trends.

"The purpose of education is not employment, but learning to live," Tharoor said.

The WEEK Education Conclave 2025, "World Class Student. Made in India," will see scholars, scientists, technologists, and policy makers debate if one should create an Indian student ecosystem world-class to compete with anyone globally.