Monday, August 6, 2012

Education Policy for India


Education Policy, Higher Education and Creation and Achievement of Economic Growth Potential in India


1.  Human Capital is the most important resource for economic growth and progress.

2.  Therefore India should invest sufficient amount of GDP in building human capital (education, knowledge, technology, skill building, manpower training, on-the-job training, etc.) to achieve the concrete goals of 10 % of the population with tertiary education level degrees, diplomas, certificates; 50 % higher secondary; 100% primary and literacy by 2040.

3.  The goal of at least 10% of the population with college degrees of their choice is consistent with the stock of human capital in the countries today called developed or industrialized.

4.  The current national policy of spending 8% of GDP on building the above mentioned level of human capital maybe sufficient as we look at this ratio around the world.

5.  Allocation of the national education budget should be 50%-25%-25% from primary to secondary to college.

6. India spent only 3 percent of GDP from 1950 t0 2000 and only about 11 to 13% on higher education. Therefore today India has only 5 percent of its population with college degrees. Their contribution is enormous. Thus, there is the need to double this number to 10 percent.

7.  The secondary and college level potions should be spent 50%-50% on general and technical and vocational education including engineering, vocational and professional training.

8.  The establishment of this educational infrastructure should be proportional to the population between rural and urban across all states and districts. This avoids the need for quotas, preferences, etc. based on social and political considerations.

9.  Leverage the educational system by creating partnerships with profit and nonprofit private sector investments in human capital in the country to befit from creativity and innovation, scaling effects and choice. Government, for profit private, government-aided institutions, and pure non-profits can serve the human capital market side by side.

10.  Special incentives can be created in the areas of more critical need for manpower in the short-term.

11. This system will allow India to have the needed human capital for better than 6% sustainable long term annual GDP growth to increase the average per capita income by 3 to 4 percent per year as the population continues to grow by about 2 percent.

12.  India has shown excellence in many of its institutions and their graduates from Indian universities and states. The expanded access to education throughout the country to all people will also increase excellence. 

13.  Expansion of a few highly successful institutions like IITs, IIMs and others is consistent with the short-term goal of increasing their output of smart graduates. So it is with the collaboration with foreign universities and allowing them to partner with Indian institutions as well as to offer their own programs in India.

14.  Creating institutions of excellence in rural India is a must for the long-term sustainability of higher growth rate and better distribution of GDP among the Indian people.

15.  Mrs. Helena Kaushik Women’s College will do its best to cooperate and partner with the government, educational institutions-domestic and foreign, NGOs, corporations  and international organizations  to expand higher education to rural women.