The Silent Erasure: How India's Education System is sacrificing Liberal Arts at the altar of Commercialization

Abstract

India's higher education landscape is witnessing an unprecedented transformation, marked by aggressive commercialization and an overwhelming obsession with technical and management education. This research article examines how the relentless pursuit of immediate employability and profit margins has systematically marginalized liberal arts and humanities education, despite mounting evidence that these disciplines cultivate critical competencies essential for holistic development and long-term career success. Drawing on recent enrolment statistics, employability data, and institutional trends, this paper argues that India's educational priorities are creating a generation of technically trained yet intellectually underdeveloped professionals, with serious implications for democratic discourse, innovation, and societal progress.