Should India normalize students having part-time jobs?

A part-time job is a mode of employment that carries fewer hours per week than a full-time job. Employees commonly work in shifts, normally fewer than 30 hours per week. Part-time employees receive the same employment entitlements as full-time workers. In recent years, the demand for part-time jobs among students has risen tremendously. Part-time jobs provide exposure and bring about personality enhancement for those students who wish to explore the world.

 

Let us talk about the pros and cons that students might face while working.

 

One of the huge benefits of working part-time is that you end up with a little bit more money in your pocket than your usual allowance. But in addition to that, you begin to appreciate the value of money a little more. Now it so happens that rather than just being provided the money to buy things that you might want or need, you start earning that money for yourself, and then maybe those sunglasses that were a thousand bucks don't look quite so appealing anymore when you have become conscious of the hours of work it took for you to gain that.

If you have a part-time role while you are studying, you will find that you will acquire plenty of significant soft skills like teamwork and time management. You can offer your initiative or an opinion. You will be working with people and that will certainly hone your interpersonal communication skills. But most of all, you will gain the confidence that if you can engage in part-time work then you can give your future employers or universities that you are applying to, some real-life examples of how you have shown some of those key skills and competencies that we all know that they are looking for. These non-academic skills are crucially important to not only them but also for you and the rest of your future.

 

An inconvenience that often so arises is the lack of accessibility for suitable jobs. To find an appropriate job that would be an asset to your CV, a little rummaging around the web is a must. However, the main difficulty that young people face is that their time management skills are put under pressure while trying to create a balance between work and school. But studies have shown that students who successfully work part-time are the most organized and juggling between academics and work builds up a character beneficial for their careers ahead.

 

According to a survey conducted in India, only 45% of the students opt for part-time jobs and only one-third of them are able to accomplish the undertaking whereas, in the west, we can see that it's well over 75%. There are many reasons for the unpopularity of part-time employment among students in our country and the following lines account for some of them.

 

1.      Almost 60% of India is rural which narrows down the opportunities by a considerable amount.

2.      The remaining 40% brimming with opportunities believe that the students are not competent enough to be working for their firms.

3.      The psychological barrier from families to provide undivided attention to academics while they subsidize their teenager’s fees as well as provide a monthly allowance for all their needs makes students very dependent.

4.      Students themselves do not see the potential experience they can gain as their individualism is being deprived of when most of their decisions are taken by others in the family.

5.      Employers do not seek students and refuse to give them work as they look for someone who will be a future asset to their company and not an unstable part-time student who would always be looking for better pay.

6.      The unvarying unemployment in India is leading to a lot of part-time jobs being taken up full-time by unwaged people.

 

India doesn’t encompass a mushrooming retail sector. Most of these retail stores are family-run corporations where they employ their kids for no pay. The blooming urbanized cities that provide for jobs however are not usually taken up by students owing to the disparaging attitude inculcated in them, preventing them from taking up odd jobs. Menial work is thought of as something reserved for a certain class of people. Whereas, for the same people, flipping burgers or working as a barista in other countries like the US and Japan isn’t something to be looked down upon. We grow up learning that education is the only path to a respectable and well-paid job. As a result, doing a part-time job is considered to be a distraction or a burden over and above studies. Moreover, they don’t find it necessary for the child to take up a job as the parents are earning and in some cases, earning plenty. In our culture, the people of our society, neighbors and relatives play a part in influencing our lives. Hence, they tend to misjudge part-time jobs as parents failing to provide for their children.

 

It is the need of the hour for India to start evolving towards a progressive country by uprooting the deep-seated archaic norms and start acknowledging the importance of letting their youths be more independent by taking up jobs to pay their bills or any extra expenses, being financially aware, socialize and network with experienced people and learn the pre-requisite of multi-tasking. Society needs to start encouraging students to contribute and form communities of their own. This can be initiated by an authorized change in the education system by the Government to incentivize volunteering, training, and internships. Right upon activation, perhaps it won’t be paid or have a lot of work for students to do. But getting the ball rolling will still provide the encouragement for students to socialize, teach them the value of community and give them an insight into the workings of the real world.

                                                                       

                                                                                                       -By Dikshita and Pooja

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