Education

‘Open the education sector for growth’

venugopal Dhoot
Posted: Aug 15, 2007 at 0000 hrs IST
Updated: Aug 14, 2007 at 2259 hrs IST

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By all accounts, the Indian economy is on a high-growth trajectory. However, among

other things, highly qualified and skills-rich human resources are required to sustain and
accelerate the growth momentum.

According to the last National Sample Survey on the status of education and vocational
training, only about 6% of Indians above the age of 15 have had vocational, technical or
graduate education. Admittedly, this number is much too low, especially for a country
that aspires to be a major player in the global knowledge economy.

On the other hand, India’s huge working-age population (a little more than half the Indian
population is under 25 years) could be turned into its greatest asset if it could be equipped
with skills linked to enhanced livelihood opportunities.

And with 13-15 million youth slated to join the workforce every year, there is an
irrefutable need to scale up access to higher education. The Gross Enrolment Ratio
(GER) in tertiary education in India is about 9% (compared to over 60% in many
developed countries.) Globally, a GER of 20% has been found to be the minimum
threshold that could contribute meaningfully to a rapid and sustainable economic growth.

The government’s stated goal of achieving a GER of 15% by 2012 therefore implies more
than doubling the intake of students from the current level of 11 million. Also, a larger
proportion of the future enrolments would be in scientific and technical courses.

Given the paucity of resources at its disposal and a host of competing priorities, the
government would be well-advised to play the facilitator’s role in higher education and
open up the sector to a more intense private participation, particularly in professional
education. And in place of the archaic norms and restrictive regulations that severely
constrain private sector initiatives, the government must set up an independent regulatory
authority for higher education and liberate it from bureaucratic forces.

All of which will not only ameliorate the humongous deficit in educational infrastructure,
but also help enhance quality through competition and reinvigorate the moribund higher
education system in the country.

http://www.financialexpress.com/news/Open-the-education-sector-for-growth/210393/

Indian Education Sector: Growth and Challenges

Dr. K. D. Raju
Rajiv Gandhi School of Intellectual Property Law, IIT Kharagpur

Abstract:
The Indian education sector is undergoing a sea change in the recent past. The focus is shifted
from the public sector to the private sector providers in higher education. The Government is
come with a number of regulations and targeted the private sector investments in education. So
far India is not committed to open the education sector under the WTO negotiations and GATS.
However the government is all set to introduce a law for the regulation of foreign universities in
the country. This paper mainly analyzes India's policies and investment since independence in
1947 in the first part. The second part looks into the question where do we want to go in the next
20 years. The third part suggests some ways to achieve the goals.

Keywords: India, Education, GATS, Growth, Challenges

Working Paper Series

Date posted: July 17, 2006 ; Last revised: July 19, 2006

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Contact Information
Dr. K. D. Raju (Contact Author)
Rajiv Gandhi School of Intellectual Property Law, IIT Kharagpur ( email )
IIT , Kharagpur
India
Kharagpur, IN 721302
India
HOME PAGE: http://www.iitkgp.in

http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=916065
http://www.indiantelevision.com/tamadex/y2k8/june/tam25.php (for adeax analysis of ad
spend of edu in pdf file)