With the youth population at its peak in India, it is no longer possible to fill the education-employment divide with degrees. The future will be of credible and technology-based assessments.
India produces about 5 lakh graduates every year. However, on average, only 2.8 million people are working at a job commensurate with their education. In one study, almost 41% of the young job seekers were unable to secure any meaningful work even after three years of job search. This is where there is a structural mismatch between the university and the industry.
The role of credible and scalable assessments in closing the gap
India is at the highest point of its history. The country has the largest youth population of 367 million (15-29 years of age). Economists have called this our demographic dividend. The growing industries require skills, flexibility, problem-solving, and domain knowledge. This is where the exam and assessment ecosystem needs to change. Assessments in India have long been considered as administrative dead-ends that are used to progress to the next academic year or a job application. However, evaluations can do so much more. They can prove their capability. They can indicate a willingness. They can help establish a bond of trust between potential employees and employers.
Eduquity Career Technologies is challenging the status quo across India. Since the year 2000, Eduquity has been a thought-leader in the Indian assessment industry, primarily delivering end-to-end online assessment solutions ranging from design, development, and administration to government entities, educational institutions, and corporates. In the days when pen and paper exams reigned supreme, Eduquity came up with the idea of conducting online exams in India. Today, with more than 25 years of unrivalled experience, the company has been able to conduct exams for more than 100 million candidates.
This vision is spearheaded by Dibya Ranjan Mahapatra, CEO of Eduquity Career Technologies. With more than 20 years of experience in Sales, Marketing, Commerce, and Business Development. Mahapatra has been instrumental in positioning Eduquity as a trusted partner for State and Central Governments, PSUs, corporates, as well as global markets. Known for navigating complex, regulated environments, he turned a non-profit business into a profitable one in a matter of years. His leadership philosophy is clear: innovation, transparency, and efficiency are non-negotiable for the future. “We must create credible tests at scale,” he asserts. “Examinations are a key public infrastructure; they need to be secure, audit-ready, and trustworthy.”
A vision based on employability
It is Eduquity’s core belief that every individual has potential and every individual is employable. The company was able to successfully conduct the biggest SSC exam of the year, the SSC Combined Higher Secondary Level (CHSL) Examination, with around 30.7 lakh registered applicants in November 2025. The exam was conducted in almost 300 centres in more than 120 cities, with every shift being conducted successfully and safely. Notably, the introduction of self-slotting enabled approximately 15.6 lakh candidates to select their preferred dates, which can be directly attributed to Eduquity’s candidate-centric, technology-first approach.
Eduquity supports the entire examination process from question paper management to computer-based test (CBT) delivery, secure test centre management, live proctoring, analysis, and result calculation. Implementing technology-based controls, identity verification, real-time monitoring, and a detailed audit trail is a key part of its examination integrity efforts.
The future of examinations in India
Innovation, transparency, and efficiency are what the future of examinations calls for. Students cannot just ‘take a paper test online’ anymore, they must be credible at scale. Eduquity’s vision for conducting examinations is clear – utilise technology as a governance tool. The company maintains a robust PAN India presence across 180 cities, with the capacity to conduct examinations for 1 lakh candidates per shift. The combination of scalability of digital platforms with on-ground operational ability allows Eduquity to manage large volumes of candidates, multiple test centres, and compliance requirements.
India has an important choice to make. The opportunity to take advantage of the demographic dividend is lost in the production of millions of graduates in a vacuum, before the working-age population declines after 2030. We can work towards education-employment linkages by getting a better assessment system, skill-based recruitment, and partnership. It is just a matter of the collective will of policy makers, teachers, and employers to consider assessment infrastructure as a national priority. Transparency cannot be an afterthought, it must be built into the architecture of every examination. When the institutions trust the process, candidates trust the outcome. It is time to create the ecosystem to match that trust.
