India’s growth story will stand, or slip, on the foundational skills it gives its children | The Indian Express

India’s growth story will stand, or slip, on the foundational skills it gives its children | The Indian Express

Written by Ashish Dhawan |Updated: September 13, 2019 11:19:47 am

The writer is founder-chairman of Central Square Foundation, a founding member of Ashoka University

India’s growth story will stand, or slip, on the foundational skills it gives its children

One of the severe consequences of having an uneducated workforce will be our inability to keep pace with the global economy. Without a strong learning foundation, there can be little or no improvement in higher education or skill development.

One of the severe consequences of having an uneducated workforce will be our inability to keep pace with the global economy.

By next year, the average age of an Indian is expected to be 29 years, while it will be 37 in China and 48 in Japan. Additionally, around 12 million youth in India are now reaching the employable age each year. Perhaps, it is this demographic trend that prompted the government to announce its ambition of making India a $10 trillion economy by 2030. However, the country’s youth will be able to do very little to push the economy upward if we fail to invest in universal quality education. School education is the most important socio-economic issue that will generate the demographic dividend needed to power India’s growth story.