Why more young Indians are doubting the value of education

On the third floor of a rundown building in a noisy Delhi market, Mohammad Faiz moves from one lecture to another, filling a notebook with neat rows of text over the course of six hours. After a quick lunch of shawarma rolls with friends at a roadside eatery, where they discuss that morning’s biology lesson, the tired 19-year-old returns to his windowless dorm room, far from his family. He washes his face, puts on his large, round spectacles, and sits at a desk piled with textbooks to start studying again.

Another six hours lie ahead.

Mr. Faiz is among millions of Indian students who spend months, or often years, preparing for fiercely competitive university entrance exams, sometimes by enrolling in private coaching centers such as this one in Delhi. For generations, Indian families have treated education as the springboard to success: If one studies hard and gets into a good college, a secure, well-paying job was almost certain. Economic liberalization in the 1990s strengthened that belief, with the expansion of information technology and engineering sectors creating new opportunities for an emerging middle class.

But this traditional ladder to success is deteriorating. More and more Indians are sitting for these high-stakes exams every year, while spots at elite schools remain scarce, and jobs aren’t growing fast enough to accommodate graduates. At the same time, as families pour more resources into preparing young people for the exams, frequent cheating scandals and test cancellations can make their investment moot.

Recent Gen Z protests gave voice to low-simmering frustrations over this broken system, and showed how young Indians are questioning the expectations of them – as well as what they should expect from their country.

“Our education system is failing us,” says Mr. Faiz. “It’s eroding our faith in the social contract that if you work hard and study well, you will get a job. Now, we are facing a situation where hard work and persistence alone don’t seem to matter.”

Aakash Hassan

Photographs of students who qualified for India’s competitive entrance exams cover a billboard outside a private coaching center in Delhi, where students like Mohammad Faiz spend hours every day studying.