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A golden opportunity missed
T. V. Mohandas Pai
Member of the Board and Director – Human Resources
Infosys Technologies Limited
It is the best of times; it is the worst of times. A secular, sustainable GDP growth of 9% p.a., tax collections
growing at 30%, forex reserves at US$ 180 billion, and a growing feeling that India can make it. At the same time, 700 million people left out of the gravy train, farmers committing suicide, a literacy rate of just 67%. This calls for bold action and a great vision to solve the biggest challenge that India faces – the challenge of educating her people and training her workforce.
Today, there are more jobs than qualified people in most areas and wages are shooting up. India is in the danger of losing out on creating large-scale employment and losing its competitive edge in the global markets. India faces a shortage of masons, tile-layers, electricians, plumbers, drivers, waiters, engineers, doctors, accountants… the list goes on. The reason is the wide divergence between a broken education system driven by state control and the needs of a rapidly growing economy.
What do we require to rectify this urgently? Liberalization of the education system and the creation of more private-public partnerships, greater autonomy for our universities and colleges, free entry of reputed foreign universities so that our children get the best education in our country. A National Scholarship Program so that no young person is deprived of higher education for economic reasons, a massive expansion of our education system with public funding and private execution, increased enrolment of youngsters aged 18-25 in universities from 10% to 25%. A national skill development program in partnership with industry so that skill development is taken up in a massive way to create jobs for semi-skilled and unskilled youngsters. A large-scale training program for our farmers to increase agricultural productivity and expose them to better practices in agriculture.
What did we get? A token increase of Rs. 3,000 crore for higher education mainly to fund the quota regime, lots of platitude about higher education and attempts at greater state control. A token skill development program instead of enhancing capacity for the quotas in the IITs could have paid for scholarship of 1 million students at Rs. 20,000 per annum — no small sum but transformational.
For the sake of a few, sacrifice the whole? This is the real tragedy of India — the lack of vision and compromises on the future of our children. Is the money there? Yes, lots of it. Is the will there? No, an abject surrender to electoral politics instead.
Our fellow citizens have responded massively to this need. Our families will eat one meal less but send their children to a private school and seek good education. Mothers will sacrifice their comfort to educate their children. Everywhere we see coaching classes come up, the urge to do better is visible. But policymakers make policies in the ethos of the past.
One more budget, one more golden opportunity missed to change the context and make the future.
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