Page 79 - EducationWorld Feb 2021 Low

ernment. The finance minister has How satisfied are you with the academia- Even if they could afford a mobile
to agree that 6 percent for education industry engagement? phone, would it be a smartphone? Is
is more important than her other Not at all satisfied. When I was there enough electricity where they
spending priorities. briefly a minister in the HRD minis- are? In a country where so many of
try, we asked Mr. Narayana Murthy the basics still have to be conquered,
As a historian and political analyst of to do a report on this, and he wrote we just cannot ignore the challenges
repute, to what extent do you agree with a good report on how to intensify that the Indian reality poses to creat-
the statement that education, aka human the academia-industry engagement. ing an online education solution to
capital development, has been severely Sadly, that report has been gathering the problems of the Coronavirus. I
neglected in post-independence India? dust under our successor govern- hope we can expeditiously get back
That there are more children in ment. In the US, for example, if a to normal schooling, normal college
India who have not seen the inside company has an idea to develop a life, normal work life, to revive the
of a school than the entire number particular product but doesn’t have economy and education. As for re-
of children on the planet, is shame- the skill, researchers, engineers to turning to the 7 percent annual GDP
ful. The fact that in a country with develop it, they instinctively go to growth rate, it’s a distant dream.
so many young people of potentially a university, provide seed capital
college going age, the gross enrol- and ask their postgrad students Looking to the long term, say 2050, how
ment ratio is still only 23 percent for to conduct research and come up optimistic are you that India can develop
university whereas the world average with viable products. This happens its human capital — the world’s largest
is 30 and in the developed countries routinely in Silicon Valley. It almost child and youth population — and catch
60 percent, suggests that there has never happens in India. up with neighbouring China in the global
been great neglect. But you should development race?
remember the British left us with The Indian economy has been battered I used to argue during my brief stint
barely 16 percent literacy, and only by the Coronavirus pandemic with an esti- in the education ministry, that edu-
3,000 colleges in the entire country. mated 18 million jobs lost and 30 million cation is not just a socio-economic,
Look at where we were, and look children having dropped out of school. but a national security issue. At
how far we’ve come. How soon do your expect the economy that time, Maoist attacks big and
Nevertheless something more to recover its 7 percent-plus economic small were frequent in 165 out of the
could have been done — differently, growth momentum? country’s 700 districts. I said these
better and faster. For example, You’re quite right to mention the were young people who had not been
Sri Lanka was left in much the large number of children dropping equipped through education, train-
same mess as we were, but they out of school. The reason that many ing and skill development, to take
reached full literacy while we are children are sent to school from advantage of the opportunities that
still 20-30 percent short. Therefore, poorer families and in rural areas is a 21st century economy offers. What
prioritisation is important as are to get things like the mid-day meal we need to do is to give our youth a
resources. and to be put to productive learning greater stake in India’s future, rather
Moreover, our federal structure in a formal school environment. If than leave them to be seduced by
has complicated matters because they’re sitting at home, parents have misguided ideologues, who offer
school education is by and large, a to feed them anyway, so they may them Rs.1,000 and a Kalashnikov.
state subject, whereas higher educa- as well put them out to work in the That’s an argument I advanced in a
tion is seen as the domain of the fields or in the carpets industry and number of speeches and interviews.
Central government, and resources as gardeners. The prolonged closure Seven years later, it remains
are mainly with the Central govern- of schools has been a tragedy. It has completely valid. We absolutely have
ment. State government universities also exposed the stark digital divide no choice but to adequately school
are in a very sorry condition. in our country. There’s a fond belief and skill our children and youth.
that we can educate children online. Well before 2050, we need to take
Do you believe that if human capital de- But can everybody in our population full advantage of our demographic
velopment — especially public primary- afford a mobile phone, let alone a dividend.
secondary education — had been given computer or a laptop or any device According to a 2020 ILO report,
high importance during the past 70 that can connect to the Internet? India has 116 million young people in
years, the India growth story, in terms of the job-starting age profile of 19-23,
economic development, would have been whereas China has only 93 million.
much better? No country has become an It means that we have the demo-
There’s absolutely no question about economic success without graphic advantage of becoming the
that. No country has become an eco- dynamo — the engine — of the world,
nomic success without first develop- first developing their as China was for a generation. And
ing their human capital after which yet sadly, we have not been able to
economic growth followed. There- human capital. Therefore take advantage of this opportunity,
fore, top priority has to be given to top priority has to be given because we neglected to prepare our
literacy, education and skill develop- young people in terms of educa-
ment. Yes, if we had done that, our to literacy, education and tion, training and skill development.
economic growth would certainly skill development I would put this mission on a war
have been more rapid. footing.

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