Education In India

Education Sector in India on 9th September 2007

By: Manisha Chawla Debasish Bhowmik Manisha Chawla

Agenda • History • General information • Current scenario • Role of Vocational Education & Training, VET & Enterprise Skills Education, ESD • Unleashing the human capital

History • Sages & scholars imparted education orally • Temples & community centers as schools • When Buddhism spread in India, education became available to everyone and this led to the establishment of some world famous educational institutions Nalanda, Vikramshila and Takshashila • It was in the 11th century that the Muslims established elementary and secondary schools • With the British arrival in India, English education came into being with the help of the European missionaries • Today India has positioned itself comfortably as a country that provides quality higher education to its people in specific and to the world in general http://www.indiaedu.com/history-education-

General information • 1910 – the first separate department • On 29th August 1947 - a full fledged Ministry of Education was established • On 26th September 1985 - the present Department of Education is one of the four constituent departments of the Ministry of Human Resource Development • Regular review of educational policies & progress

http://finance.indiamart.com/india_business_information/edu cation.html

General Information • In 1960s - economic crisis and the school attendance rate fell a big reconsideration on the whole education was done establishing the advisory committee including foreigners • Today the system which was decided by the international conference party is revolved. It has 10-2-3 system and in some states it has 5-3-2 system or 4-3-3 system. • 1982 - The National Policy on Education was formulated in 1982 was later updated in 1992

http://finance.indiamart.com/india_business_information/ed ucation.html

Current scenario •

Present population of India is about 1100 million

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72% or nearly 775 million are below the age of 35 years

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It is estimated that there are nearly 300 million people in the age group from 18 years to 50 years who seek employment, either self employment or otherwise

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India has a large number of young people but they are not educated and trained to world class standards, therefore most are not employable

Current scenario •

No. of people getting some sort of VET is hardly 1.5 to 2 million students/yr., totally inadequate for a country of the size of India

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Various studies have proved, without any doubt, that the GDP growth rate moves up by 1% - 2% / yr., only as a result of an educated and literate population

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Nearly 28 million people are added to the youth population every year, putting additional burden on the existing Primary and Secondary Education infrastructure of India.

Current scenario • •

4% of GDP Requirement : 8% - 10% of GDP OR additional Rs. 1,00,000 cr.- Rs. 1,25,000 cr. funds are required p.a.

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50,000 private training centers in software & I.T These are only two examples in the area of education and training which are outside the control of the Central and State Governments and flourishing

Current scenario •

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In the 7 IIT’s and the 5 IIM’s the total number of seats allows only the top 1.1% - 1.3% of the applicants to be selected. The top 15% of these students find admission any where in the world educational institutions, provided they can pay for their fees. The IIT’s and IIM’s charge highly subsidized fees, as a result, even after 60 years of independence they have no surplus to set up new campuses It is estimated that nearly Rs 50,000 cr of funds flow out of India every year, directly and indirectly, for the Indian students studying abroad, enough to build 30 IIT’s or 50 IIM’s per year! The IIT’s, IIM’s and colleges of Higher & Technical Education will find it very difficult to get teaching staff and trainers on fixed government levels of salary and wage structure. It is regrettable that though the students from these institutions get much higher starting salaries than their professors, this aspect has been ignored by the civil society as well as the government!

Current scenario •

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Very few schools provide development of other aspects of character building and of important values and extra curricular activities such as sports, music, drama, hobbies and prevocational courses in the 2500 Vocational Courses If India has to compete in world markets it needs world class trained manpower to make Indian enterprises high quality and low cost Nearly Rs. 40,000 - Rs.50,000 cr./yr. is remitted, directly or indirectly, for the 2,80,000 Indian students studying overseas! This amount is sufficient to build 20 IITs or 50 IIMs per year!

Role of Vocational Education & Training, VET & Enterprise Skills Education, ESD •

Presently the importance and relevance of VET has NOT been fully appreciated and implemented, by the stake-holders of the Indian economy. • In most developed countries nearly 95% of the youth between the ages of 15 to 25 years, learn a trade or a skill or a competence, in a formal manner. This fosters employment generation, productivity improvement, higher efficiency of the processes within the country as well as improvement in the quality of life of the citizens. • In India this figure is less than 1%. This requires awareness programs and legislation.

Role of Vocational Education & Training, VET & Enterprise Skills Education, ESD • •

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Nearly 5% to 7% of the population should be taking some sort of VET program at any given time this would translate to about 50 million to 70 million people per year. In some developed countries, nearly 10% to 13% of the population, at any given time, are taking some sort of vocational education and training. This is available to age groups starting from 15 and going up to 55 years. Normally nearly 2,500 courses are available in about 15,000 modules.

This is not the case in India. In fact we are discouraging our artisans in villages to improve their skills, thereby loosing some world-class skills and know-how of ancient India! • In India, all such training is regulated by the Ministry of Labour and employment. Some deregulation has taken place but not enough. • Presently some VET courses are conducted by the ITI’s in many states of India. The syllabus needs revamping, the scope of the courses need to be enlarged. The delivery systems need to be modernized, privatization is essential.

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In India most of the 300 million unemployed, are NOT employable. VET will help for starting small and medium businesses as well as for jobs within the country as well as for the international markets. • Only in I.T. and software can one find world class training facilities in India. But I.T. accounts for only 1.5% of the world GDP and about 3.0% of India’s GDP! We need to look at the balance 97% of the economy and enterprise! • We need to develop skill sets for the balance 98.5% of the world economy, in all areas of enterprise. Please see the book – Transforming INDIA*, for details. You can download part of the details freely from the web site at

www.wakeupcall.org

Unleashing the human capital •

In the first phase, Government should concentrate from Kinder Garden to the 10th Class for the next 20 to 25 years, or till literacy levels of above 98% have been achieved, whichever is sooner

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Enterprise Skills and Education or ESD needs to be started from Class 1st to Class 10th. This will impart to the youth a view of how the real world works and help them to choose the profession of their choice and aptitude, by the time they are 14 to 16 years of age.

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Pre-vocational courses should be started from Class 7th to 10th

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Councilors and student advisors need to be available to all students in the secondary schools. This network needs urgent implementation

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To meet this shortfall it is essential to tap additional resources from NRI’s and domestic sources by providing incentives and taxbreaks in education

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All funding for higher and Technical Education should be diverted towards Primary and Secondary education

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License Raj in Higher & Technical Education, including Vocational Education & Training should go. Reservation for up to 25% of seats for merit and merit-cum-poverty to be reserved in such institutions at very nominal fees of say 25% of normal fees

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Private capital from Citizens and NRI’s should be encouraged to set up world class facilities for all forms of educational institutions, to make India an International Hub for education. World wide education is 500% bigger than I.T. and software.

Unleashing the human capital •

Like in private tuition and in the education of I.T. and software there should be no interference from the government, for private institutions of Higher Education, eg… – Selection of Syllabus – Salary levels of teachers – Appointment of the head of the Institution – Appointment of staff and teachers – Fee structure of different courses – Introduction of new courses and scrapping of old courses • 9. IIT’s and IIM’s should be allowed to start multiple campuses any where in India with or without private partners who bring in finance and other expertise • 10. Indian Universities and colleges should be allowed to upgrade their infrastructure by bringing in Indian or other partners, provided that they always have full management control of their institutions •

Unleashing the human capital •

A dynamic relationship between Teaching-Research-IndustryEnterprise-Government, is required

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Education & Training worldwide, as an Enterprise, is 500% the size of I. T. and software. The MHRD should do whatever is necessary to promote India as an International Hub in education & training. This alone can propel India to become a ‘World Power’. This alone can remove and reduce the menace of Capitation Fees!

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by decontrol and deregulation of the existing educational system private/public/NRI participation in education, from primary to higher & technical education • The present Indian definition of Literacy also needs up-gradation

Unleashing the human capital • •

Promote 100% Literacy as soon as possible Decontrol & deregulate all forms of education at the Central & State Government level. It should be easy to start or expand existing educational facilities. • Allow tax-breaks for the next 25 years for all investments in education • Do whatever is necessary to make India an International Hub for all forms of Education • Promote Enterprise Skills Development, all forms of Vocational Education & Training, for 5% of the population, at any given time, or 50 million people per year

Unleashing the human capital •

Allow IIT’s & IIM’s to open multiple campuses in India with private and/or Government partnership • If India has to globalize it is necessary that all students entering higher education, i.e. after 10+2, must learn another foreign language besides English. The English speaking world is hardly 35% to 40% of the world GDP! • Allow organizations to make education a business. Education is five times bigger than Software and Information Technology. This information needs to be carried far and wide. • Indian mind-set on the importance of relevant education to be changed.

Unleashing the human capital •

Education to be tailor-made for employment generation for the World market place

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Indian education must increase emphasis on SQ and EQ development and not only on IQ development. IQ, SQ & EQ have equal importance in character building

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The teachings and richness of Indian culture, heritage, history, music and arts must be enlarged to increase the self esteem and confidence of the youth of our Nation

Unleashing the human capital •

Private investments should be encouraged in IIT like and IIM like institutions. Presently only 1.3% of the applications are accepted, as compared to nearly 10% to 15% in Harvard, MIT, Stanford, Oxford, Cambridge and other colleges of higher and technical learning. China is planning to invest in nearly 100 IIT like institutions! We encourage bright Indian students to leave India for studies in foreign countries. • Capitation fees will not-go-away by controls and legislation but ONLY by deregulation and freedom. Free market forces should act by bringing in intense competition and excellence in education and training. Controls and legislation have failed in the last 58 years. • The present system of education hardly uses 5% of the human brain, see details in the book – Transforming INDIA*. It concentrates on IQ development, which is only 33% of the human character. If ESD and VET are introduced it will develop EQ and SQ in the youth, both of which account for nearly 66% of the human character development and also results in much better values and ethics in the youth.