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

• 72% or nearly 775 million are below the age of

35 years

• 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

• 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

• 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

• 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.

• 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
• 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
• 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

• 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.
• 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

• 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.

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

• Councilors and student advisors need to be available to all

students in the secondary schools. This network needs urgent
implementation

• To meet this shortfall it is essential to tap additional resources

from NRI’s and domestic sources by providing incentives and tax-
breaks in education
• All funding for higher and Technical Education should be
diverted towards Primary and Secondary education

• 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

• 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-Industry-
Enterprise-Government, is required

• 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!

• 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

• 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

• 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.