Ways to improve the system
An experience-sharing workshop on women’s entrepreneurship — as part of a project on promoting eco-friendly entrepreneurship development for women in…
“If I were asked under what sky the human mind has most fully developed some of its choicest gifts, has most deeply pondered on the greatest problems of life, and has found solutions, I should point to India.”
Max Mueller had thus described our nation’s ability to find explanations to some of the most fundamental issues that have baffled the world. Though the industrialisation and technological advancements in the West have taken the centre stage over the last few decades, India never ceased to mystify with its knowledge and prowess.
Today, centuries after Mueller, as the world demands our knowledge, skills and talent to sustain economic growth and prosperity, the question is — are we up to the challenge? Let us examine the state of the Indian education system through the prism of global competitiveness.
India, expected to become the third largest-economy in the world by 2030 (based on gross domestic product share), has been endowed with enormous manpower availability and there are tremendous expectations from it. Having launched the ambitious “Make in India” project, it is expected that 90 per cent of the GDP and 75 per cent of employment avenues would come from the services and manufacturing sector by 2030. Already, Indian companies are earning more than 40 per cent of their revenue from overseas.
Amid such bright prospects at home, a McKinsey study says that global economy — currently experiencing structural shifts, productivity enhancement and technological progress — will require 3.3 billion skilled workers by 2020 to man services and capital-intensive manufacturing sectors. Given its timely and larger exposure to the information age, India's prospects double as technological obsolescence would lead to a major shift in global employment prospects, upping the demand for more sophisticated workers, innovators, and thinkers.
Moreover, India — set to become the youngest nation in the world by 2020 — will also see a 65 per cent hike in its working-age population by then (with most in the age group of 20-35 years). It will have the largest workforce by 2022, according to the erstwhile Planning Commission's records.
However, such a fabulous “demographic dividend” would be lost unless the country can create a “globally relevant and competitive” higher education system that serves the requirements of both the domestic as well as global economy, according to a study by AT Kearney.
India's advantages are its globally-reputed institutions, greater student and faculty mobility, and collaborations with international institutions. Besides, Indian talent is fit to work in or serve international markets. Of late, it has developed a culture of research, innovation and entrepreneurship that can help the country’s economic growth. Lastly, the higher education system has made considerable capacity creation.
Yet negatives outweigh the positives — its graduates have low employability due to outdated curricula. Teaching-learning practices are mostly examination-oriented with a focus on rote learning and there's a deficit of quality faculty, high student-teacher ratios, institutional and industry linkages, and autonomy to launch more relevant courses. The spending on research and development is low hence fewer patents are filed; there’s a paucity of doctoral students and lack of international research collaborations in research. Despite being geared towards IT, campuses focus less on entrepreneurship hence there are fewer incubation/entrepreneurship cells. Though the government has duly acknowledged the critical nature of the issue, a few elementary but transformative steps are required immediately.
The Indian education system is largely based on the traditional way of learning; face-to-face lectures and standardised curriculum, which are effective in disseminating basic knowledge but highly deficient in extending “professional skills”. Though it has the largest number of higher education institutions, few are globally acceptable thereby breeding lower employability and lesser interest among students. Due to this immaterial cycle, India has been witnessing a steady closure of some engineering and management colleges; in fact as many as 120 colleges were closed in 2014 because of their inability to fill up seats. Even last year, a majority of Indian workers who emigrated for employment were low-skilled and blue collar in nature.
But there is a solution. The most effective way to begin the overhaul of education delivery in India is to prompt a few radical shifts in learning methods, faculty recruitment and development, and better facilities. The need of the hour is a learner-centric model, which focuses on engaging and equipping students with capacities required for the 21st century. The industry is looking for people with strong critical thinking, leadership, highly technical and manufacturing skills.
For this, from the elementary level, India needs a more modern, outcome-focused learning framework that comprises theoretical as well as practical learning. Students should be educated to solve real-world issues, take decisions; acquire creative and critical thinking and have greater social engagement, collaboration and communication. At the more critical higher-education level, industry-academia partnership is critical to learn and impart job-ready skills.
The system must adapt key course content revisions; endorse merit-based industry internships and industrial training for teachers. A study by the Confederation of Indian Industry shows that the industry-academia linkages are better in placements but very low in programmatic collaborations. In fact, just five per cent of institutes have any support from the industry in any way.
India needs more industry training institutes through the public-private partnership model to impart relevant vocational and skill training. Though the National Skills Development Corporation is a good start, we also need specific training and development for general management and technical supervisory. Working professionals must also undergo regular improvement in skills to be globally relevant; here the employers can provide the support and infrastructure.
Apart from physical infrastructure, faculty development is vital for India’s future preparedness. A recent All India Council for Technical Education data suggests that at least 35 per cent of faculty positions in state universities and 40 per cent in central universities are lying vacant though enrollment in higher education has grown six times in the last 30 years (faculty strength has grown only four times). As such, more recruitment and better training — delivered by actual industry experts — would equip the faculty better.
The most key reform, however, would be the merger of pre-school, elementary and secondary structures (currently overseen by different bodies) under a single strategic authority. That would help instill a greater sense of purpose.
The writer is vice-president, Pearson India
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