What can Goa offer its youth in terms of a professional career is a question not many have the answer to. Every year, the state sees a massive exodus of youth looking for greener pastures elsewhere. Whether it be the IT field, the business or finance line or teaching, Goa needs to find a way to keep hold of its future generation in order to take forward strides.

Young criminal advocate turned activist, Rajeev Gomes asserted that today’s youth are confused and afraid. “The government has not created sufficient opportunities for employment. The education system has also failed the youth. Our educationists lack foresight. The government should rope in consultants to reframe our education structure in order to unleash fresh and promising careers for our children,” he said.

While Joed Almeida who quit his banking career to become Radio Indigo’s popular radio jockey acknowledges that, “Fifteen years back there was a boy just a couple of years elder to me down South who sat at the local tavern drinking all day while I was in school. He sat there all day waiting for election time and all the doles from the contestants. There was a time then he asked me to make an email id for him and even chat for him online. Today that man is well settled abroad, has a fancy home and car. His priority was to make money and he moved out to do so. Today he is an independent man who keeps track of what’s happening in Goa through Social Media.”

RJ Joed feels that’s a huge change for the uneducated kid who he knew to what he has become today. “And yes there are those who choose to live here itself, although it could be hunky-dory for some it’s not the same for all,” he added.

Joed believes that traditions don’t hold that importance like they used to especially in terms of culture which the older generation is stuck in in Goa. But he, like many others feels that kids in his generation on a Monday morning at the Margao bus stand were happier and care free but today kids are so burdened and lot more focused with fewer smiles. He’s also concerned with how kids get fancy phones and gadgets and depend less on conversation.

A young Adhyatma Karpe, who pursued Company Secretary and has spent a great deal of her time studying and working in Mumbai points out that change in the education scenario has consequently led to change in career goals. There’s a vast array of options available in terms of degrees in further education, all of which may not be available in Goa. This causes the youth to seek such opportunities out of Goa and look for employment in that very same place. In case of women, there has been a drastic shift in their education and career scenario, wherein they are no longer restricted to their graduation degrees and then donning the role of a homemaker after marriage. A large number of women are actively giving greater importance to their further education and subsequent employment, while putting marriage plans on hold, in some cases. Also, the youth today is no longer happy with the regular, stable 9-5 job. A rising number of youngsters are looking to work in fields they feel passionately about, keeping monetary gains as a secondary incentive.

Adhyatma, a professional CS now wants to pursue an MBA from the IIMs and continues on her education spree outside Goa. But Adhyatma who comes from doctor parents and hails from Aquem feels that moving out of Goa is a direct consequence of the growth in education and employment opportunities available out of Goa. “The number of youngsters moving out is greater than the number staying back in Goa. The primary reason for the youth to stay back in Goa is to take care of their families or any family business set up in Goa,” she feels.

Youngsters who spoke to the Herald correspondent over Facebook chat also are unhappy that Goa is perceived by people as a party destination and the land of ‘sussegad’ people. While both statements are universally acknowledged, calling them truths would be unfair to the people of Goa. Goans are generally a hard working lot who also like to party sometimes. Goa is a mixture of tradition and modernity wherein both are equally important. Also, the communal harmony in Goa has remained intact despite a few stray incidents of communal differences. These are things that the youth should probably work on highlighting and bringing out to the world rather than promoting it as the ‘party capital of the nation’.