Skilling India: The Way Ahead
Read the passages given below and answer the questions that follow them:
India has over 35,000 institutions of higher education, a number that is one of the largest institutes in the world. The central and state universities together still comprise a substantial percentage of them. However, over the next decade or two, this is likely to shift towards private institutions as more and more Indians decide to get a higher education.
India today is a rapidly changing country, which is markedly different from what it was 20 years ago when it started on a new path to liberalisation. With a large number of companies in the other hemisphere outsourcing jobs to India, the country has virtually become the world’s back-office. This has also spurred the demand for quality graduates in multiple disciplines.
With the number of middle-class Indians swelling, the requirements of careers changing and a new breed of young Indians leading the clamour for a world-class education at home, India’s education sector is also changing rapidly.
The Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in higher education in India is still a little less than 15 per cent. This too varies from region to region.
With 60 per cent of this huge population under the age of 25, the demand for higher education is set to grow. The government is responding to these requirements by establishing more AIIMS and IIT across states, but given the state’s limited resources, there remains a certain limit to the government’s spending on education. In these circumstances, the rapidly increasing demands of Indians on the education front can be met only when the private sector invests heavily in the field. And this is something it is already doing.
According to a McKinsey report on Indian demography, 590 million people will live in Indian cities by 2030, almost twice the current US population. There will be 91 million urban homes by 2030 in India, as against 20 million today. A large number of rural residents would be shifting base to urban centres, giving up their age-old family profession of farming and cultivation in favour of new avenues for their children.
These create a never-before-seen demand for higher education in India. This is where the role of the private sector will and is proving to be crucial.
It is not just the numbers that are increasing. Another major shift is in the demand for quality. More globally-exposed Indians are today asking why a greater number of Indian educational institutions cannot provide world-class education, comparable to prestigious foreign institutions.
Consequently, not only are more and more private universities and colleges emerging everywhere but also there is an increasing consciousness among ‘education providers’ that quality education is what the young Indians are looking for. Private universities are also breaking new paradigms in education by offering wide options of learning to students and developing new mechanisms of learning. The teaching techniques and the quality of learning have also been transformed. Indian institutions today are also working to cater to a growing international clientele of students that are looking for new pastures to get an education. Some prestigious institutions today also attract foreign students to the country, with their statement-the-art infrastructure and world-class education. It is time the government recognises the role of private sector education in building a sound full.* for India.
Questions
1. Does India have a high number of institutions of higher education?
2. Where will more and more Indians decide to get higher education in the coming decades?
3. How has India virtually become the world’s back office?
4. What are the requirements of careers changing in India?
5. How is the government responding to the requirements of higher education?
6. What will be the condition of Indian cities by 2030?
7. What is the thing in higher education that the young Indians are looking for?
8. What role can the private sector education play in the future?
Answers
1. Yes, India has over 35,000 institutions of higher education.
2. In the coming decades more and more Indians will look towards private institutions for higher education.
3. India has virtually become the world’s back office as foreign companies are outsourcing jobs to India.
4. With the number of educated middle-class Indians swelling, the requirements of careers are changing in India.
5. The government is responding to the requirements of higher education by establishing more AIIMS and IITs across states.
6. By 2030, almost 590 million people will live in cities in India, almost twice the current population of the United States of America.
7. Young Indians are looking for quality education or world-class education in India.
8. The private sector education can play a leading role in building a sound future of India.
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