Need of the Nation: Skill-building and Education
UNP Education
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In his recent visit to India, World Bank chief, Mr. Ajay Banga rightly stressed the need for skill-building and education for India to achieve sustainable economic growth. I believe they are the need of the hour and should be the top priorities to focus because while there are big opportunities ahead, they demand some solid preparation. And most importantly, the opportunities may have a limited window to grab and maximum economic benefits.
OPPORTUNITY:?
Every year I visit India, I am very impressed with the progress on infrastructure development both on the ground and in the digital space which has the potential to open new gates of opportunities for India and its people. Huge investment has gone into infrastructure and to reap the dividends from the investment, India must grow both in the manufacturing and service sector. There is a common factor for both, the need for skilled people. And the approach to provide that must be rationally planned and executed.?
While the service sector predominantly requires people with skills acquired from college degrees, the manufacturing sector will require a mix of college graduates and skilled people from vocational training to work as technicians. Eventually, it's the people who drive economic growth and we need to invest big time in adequately skilling them to unleash the opportunities.??
CHALLENGE:?
An article from Bloomberg earlier this year highlights one of the biggest concerns about students graduating from colleges across India with almost limited or no skills leading to unemployability. This is unfortunate for students who expect to be gainfully employed after completing? their college degrees.?
I see this challenge everywhere I travel due to my work at UNP - United Network of Professionals and my engagements with academic institutions, teachers, and students across India. While the government has come up with a new education policy (NEP) and there is a big push on skills development, on the ground there is a lot more to be done to bring tangible change. Most Universities & Colleges lack the resources (teachers, trainers, funds, infrastructure, etc.) to implement NEP and provide adequate skills development programs to their students, and this situation gets more and more serious as we move from Tier 1 cities to Tier 2 and lower.?
And the problem is global too which is also highlighted in the Bloomberg article. I see the same challenges here in the US? and believe that they exist across the world. Nevertheless, the problem is paramount for India given it has the largest working-age population, a high unemployment rate, and a big mission of lifting its ~15% population out of poverty.?
SOLUTION:?
Unleash the power of digital infrastructure to bring parity in the quality of education across the country. Technology is a great equalizer and can enrich everyone with access to quality content, learning, and skilling. And a very important point worth focusing is to accept that not everyone is educable in schools & colleges due to social & economic constraints, personal abilities, etc. For them, we MUST have vocational training programs to train and prepare them as technicians. They can aid the much-needed growth of the manufacturing sector, provide employment to millions, and a sustainable economic growth.?
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To fuel the mission, the Government of India needs to allocate more budget to education. The country's current budget on education is ~3% of GDP whereas the NEP recommendation is 6% which is close to most developed nations (Norway 6.4%, New Zealand 6.3%, UK 6.2%, US 6.1%). Doubling the budget will certainly give a big boost to the mission.
THE TIME IS NOW!?
The window for India to reap dividends on huge infrastructure investment could be shorter than expected. If they fail to do so quickly, they may miss the opportunity of providing jobs to their biggest asset, the young working-age population, and boost its economic and social growth. The time is now to put all impetus on education and skill development.
GLOBAL VISION:
We all agree the problem is global. The challenge of poverty alleviation, need for skill-building and education is relevant for all developing and underdeveloped nations across the world. As Mr. Banga said, the best way to drive a nail in the coffin of poverty is growth and that I believe will come from effectively educating, skilling, and empowering people.
The United Nations has 17 sustainable goals (SDGs) and I am very optimistic that if there is one goal that we can achieve by 2030 or sooner, it has to be SDG4 – Quality Education for All.
Embracing Technology in education, uniting all the stakeholders and good forces, and a strong commitment and push can surely help us achieve Quality Education for All by 2030. And if we can achieve it, I am even more optimistic that we will achieve the remaining goals sooner than later.???
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