VACT

Thinking Minds

By - Noor Mohammed -VACT

India continues to face stern challenges. Despite growing investment in education, 35% of its population is still illiterate; only 15% of Indian students reach high school, and just 7% graduate. As of 2008, India's post-secondary high schools offer only enough seats for 7% of India's college-age population, 25% of teaching positions nationwide are vacant, and 57% of college professors lack either a master's or PhD degree.

World Bank statistics found that fewer than 40 percent of adolescents in India attend secondary schools. The Economist reports that half of 10-year-old rural children could not read at a basic level, over 60% were unable to do division, and half dropped out by the age 14.

Human Capital Formation for Eradication of Poverty: The World Bank has estimated that nearly 42 percent of Indian people live on less than USD 1.25 per day (per capita income in purchasing power parity terms), which is about Rs.21.6 per day in urban areas and Rs 14.3 in rural areas. Further, three out of every four Indians live on less than USD 2 per day (per capita income in purchasing power parity terms). Increasing income potential through better education is critical for eradication of poverty in India.

Demographic Dividend or Demographic Liability: Over the next four decades, India would experience what is called Demographic Dividend whereby an immense supply of young working age people would become available. Indeed, India would be the youngest large country in the world and nearly every fourth working age person in the world would be an Indian. This could potentially catapult India to significantly higher rates of economic growth, leading to rapid reduction in poverty. Unfortunately if the current trends in education continue, about a fifth of India's working age persons would be illiterate, one third would be middle school dropouts, another one third would be high school dropouts and only a fifth of them would have completed schooling. As a result, the expected Demographic Dividend could easily become a Demographic Liability with millions more mouths to feed, without the commensurate skilled working-hands and educated thinking-minds.

For VACT Noor Mohammed