Why Skill Development Matters More Than a Degree for Underprivileged Youth

In India, we are raised to believe that a degree is the key to a better life. Parents sacrifice everything for it. Children study through power cuts and hunger for it. Society measures worth by it. But for millions of underprivileged youth across our country, the path to a university degree is blocked long before it even begins — by poverty, by geography, by the simple, brutal need to earn today rather than study for tomorrow.

At Maa Yog Kripa Seva Samiti (MYKSS), we have spent years working alongside these young people. And we have learned something that does not appear in any policy document: for underprivileged youth, a skill is not a second choice. It is often the only real choice — and the most powerful one.

The Reality That Degrees Don't Address

Let us be honest about what a degree requires. It requires years of uninterrupted study, tuition fees, books, transport, and a household that can afford to keep a young person out of the workforce until their mid-twenties. For a family living on daily wages, this is simply not possible.

• A 16-year-old girl pulled out of school to help at home has no path to a degree — but she can learn mehendi, weaving, or tailoring in weeks
• A teenage boy expected to contribute to family income cannot wait four years — but a skill can make him employable in months
• A first-generation learner with no mentor or guidance network rarely navigates higher education alone — but a community-based skill workshop does not require that network
• Degrees gate-keep opportunity behind paperwork, entrance exams, and urban institutions — skills are accessible wherever people are

Degree vs. Skill: An Honest Comparison

We are not saying degrees have no value. We are saying that for underprivileged youth specifically, the trade-offs look very different.

What We Teach at MYKSS

Our skill development programme offers short crash courses that are deliberately designed to be accessible — no prerequisites, no fees, no complicated enrollment. Just a willingness to learn.

These are not hobbies. These are livelihoods. A young woman who learns mehendi design can earn independently from her own home. A child who learns weaving or handicrafts can contribute to a family cottage industry. Every skill we teach is a thread that connects a young person to economic dignity.

The Confidence No Classroom Can Give

Something remarkable happens when an underprivileged child makes something with their own hands and someone values it. A shift occurs — not just economically, but emotionally. They stop seeing themselves as people to whom things happen and begin to see themselves as people who make things happen.

This confidence is not a soft outcome. It directly translates into better engagement at school, stronger family relationships, and higher ambitions for the future. Skill development and education are not opposites — they reinforce each other.

Skills Are a Bridge, Not a Ceiling

We do not teach skills instead of education. We teach skills so that education becomes possible.

— MYKSS Mission Philosophy

A child who has economic agency is far more likely to stay in school. A family with a stable income is far more likely to invest in the next generation's education. Skill development, when done right, is not a detour from education — it is the foundation that makes sustained education possible.

At MYKSS, our free education programme and our skill development workshops are designed to work together. We teach children to read, write, and calculate — and we teach them to weave, create, and earn. One feeds the mind. The other feeds the household. Both are necessary.

What India Needs to Understand

India's National Skill Development Mission has long recognised the gap. But policy moves slowly, and the need is urgent. NGOs and community organisations are often the first responders — reaching the children that government programmes have not yet touched.

• Vocational skills reduce school dropout rates by giving families a reason to keep children learning
• Skill-based income reduces child labour by providing a better economic alternative
• Community skill workshops build social bonds and local support systems
• Women who are skilled are more financially independent and more empowered in their households

A degree is a privilege. A skill is a right. At MYKSS, we believe every child — regardless of their family's income, their postcode, or their past — deserves the right to build something with their own hands and call it their future.

Over 30 workshops conducted. More than 150 children empowered. And we are just getting started.