Page 67 - EducationWorld March 2022

History of the Gap Year

he origins of gap year can be traced to 17th century Eng-
Tland when young men of nobility undertook a Grand Tour
of European destinations for upto three years to learn about
the continent’s culture and history. Much later after World
War II, many British youth devastated by the physical, emo-
tional, and financial traumas of the war, took a gap year to
rejuvenate and heal mind, body and soul. However, it was
not until the 1960s that taking a gap year became popular in Prince William Steve Jobs Malia Obama
the West especially in Europe and the US. In the mid-1960s, College, USA to spend a year in India and the Middle East,
widespread disapproval of America’s Vietnam war prompted meditating in the mountains and learning calligraphy. After he
a large number of college and university students to take a returned home, he revolutionised the world of technology with
year off to organise street protests against the war, and later the invention of the iMac and promoted Apple Inc, currently
travel abroad to enable young people to exchange cultural the world’s most valuable company by market valuation.
ideals in the hope of preventing future wars. In the new millennium, several celeb gappers have made
In the 1970s, the introduction of lifestyle enterprises start- taking a year off popular again. They include Princes William
ed the gap year industry. In 1972, Gap Activity Projects (now and Harry in the UK, and Malia Obama in the US. Prince Wil-
Lattitude Global Volunteering) was started to send British liam took a gap in 2000 during which he provided volunteer
youth around the world on gap year experiences. In the US, service in Belize and Chile, travelled to Africa and worked on a
the first gap year organization — Dynamy — was founded in dairy farm back in England, before starting his undergraduate
Worcester, Massachusetts in 1969 with the intention of teach- degree programme at St. Andrews University, Scotland. His
ing young people self-confidence and community service. brother Prince Harry, later followed in his footsteps, travelling
Since then, several organisations have sprung up to equip to Australia and the Kingdom of Lesotho in Africa, before
gappers with important life skills such as communication enrolling in the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst.
and collaboration, as well as vocational and entrepreneurial In 2016, Malia Obama, daughter of former President
skills which will stand them in good stead in higher education Barack Obama, took a gap year before beginning her educa-
and beyond. tion at Harvard University. During the gap year she spent a
A famous celeb gapper of the 1970s was Steve Jobs, the summer as an intern at the US embassy in Spain and travelled
legendary founder of Apple Inc, who dropped out of Reeds across Bolivia and Perú in South America.

reflection and self-discovery. These to shutter for an unprecedented 82 skills programmes. Although data
days, gap year students have ac- weeks — the longest education lock- is not available, it can be presumed
cess to a large number of options down worldwide since March 2020 — that a sizeable number of indigenous
to acquire skills and competencies a large number of higher secondary higher secondary and college/univer-
which will stand them in good stead and college/university students per- sity students did likewise.
in higher education and beyond,” force transformed the academic year While the pandemic and its dis-
says Nishtha Narang, programme 2020-21 into a gap year. And many ruptive impact pushed several youth
manager of I-GenPlus, which offers who had signed up for higher educa- to write off 2020-21 and transform
a gap year leadership development tion abroad, deferred their admission it into a gap year, another factor in-
programme for class XII students in to 2021-2022. spiring young adults to step off the
addition to several other short-term In a recent study, the London- non-stop academic treadmill is the
courses. The company also has a col- based Sutton Trust found that one in new millennium phenomenon of
laboration agreement with Rishihood five university applicants (19 percent) hundreds of college drop-outs and
University, Sonipat, under which the in the UK had changed their minds celebrity gappers who have shaken
university’s undergrad students can about attending university in 2020- up stock markets world over by pro-
sign up for I-GenPlus’ enriching gap 21. In the US, a survey conducted last moting unicorn companies. A case
year programmes. April by Baltimore-based consulting in point is the extraordinary success
With the Covid-19 pandemic hav- firm Art & Science Group, found that story of Elon Musk, founder of Tesla
ing prompted the Central and later 17 percent of students had changed Inc (annual revenue of $24.5 billion),
state governments countrywide to ill- their higher education plans because who in a pre-university gap year trav-
advisedly order all education institu- of the pandemic and preferred to sign elled across Canada doing odd jobs
tions from preschools to universities up for online professional and life including weeding vegetable beds and

MARCH 2022 EDUCATIONWORLD 67