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.
