INDIA, A POTENTIAL EDUCATION HUB

For a culture that traditionally values education, it is only natural that India should become an education hub. An average middle-class household in India spends 15 to 20 per cent of its income on education/careers of children. In fact, education takes the second position after
food in the spend hierarchy, with clothing and housing following it. Fuelled by the popular dream of a foreign degree, the Indian education market is on the verge of a boom. Pursuing a course abroad is not always possible because of the inhibiting expenses involved. Since there aren’t as many scholarships as aspirants, foreign education, often an entry point into the West, remains a dream. Realising the huge market potential, foreign institutes are entering into partnerships with Indian institutes or companies.

And it's not only the lesser known colleges that are trying to hardsell themselves to prospective students here. Ivy League institutions such as Duke University from North Carolina and Columbia University from New York were among those who participated in the October 2004
road shows conducted by the United States Educational Foundation in India and the Institute of International Education in several Indian cities. The others involved Georgetown University from Washington DC and Tufts University of Massachussetts.

Going by US News rankings for America’s Best Colleges in 2005, Duke is at 5th place, Columbia at 9th, Georgetown at 25th and Tufts at 28th. Not only American, top colleges like McGill and York from Canada and Oxford University of UK are increasingly reaching out to recruit Indian
students, especially in newer courses like management and masters in financial economics.

Clearly, the Indian student is in demand. As Stephan Chambers, head of MBA programmes, Said Business School, Oxford University, said: “We will be in India in mid-February 2005 to promote our school and courses. Our reasons are very simple: To attract the best students from around the world and some of them come from India."

A study reveals that at least 131 Indian institutions have collaborative arrangements with foreign universities. The study titled "Foreign Education Providers in India" and conducted by the National Institute of Fuelled by the popular dream of a foreign degree, the Indian education market is on the verge of a boom.Realizing the huge market potential, foreign institutes are entering into partnerships with Indian institutes or companies.

Educational Planning & Administration (NIEPA), reveals that Tamil Nadu has the highest number of Indian institutions with foreign collaborations.Tamil Nadu is followed by Maharashtra and Delhi in that order. While NIEPA admits that the survey was not exhaustive, it gives an idea
of the extent of the education market. The number could actually be close to 250 with an estimated number of 10,000 students enrolled incourses of this nature.

A majority of these foreign partners are from the US and the UK, the biggest players in the education export market worldwide. For instance, the British Council-supported site Edulinks, which helps foster Anglo- Indian partnerships in education and training, lists 57 collaborations
between the UK and Indian institutes across areas such as business, engineering, medicine and fashion design.

Of the 131 institutions identified, a majority of foreign collaborations are in professional and vocational courses. About 107 provide vocational courses, 19 technical courses and only five offer general education. About 80 per cent of these foreign endeavours are in business and hotel
management. This is because management is in huge demand and requires minimum infrastructural investment. For Indian educational institutions, this is an opportunity to build their brands as well as harness the financial strengths of the foreign universities.

It is evident, education now spells big business. One indicator of the growing education market is that educational institutions have emerged as the largest ad spending category in print media in 2004, up from the 6th position just a year ago, according to Adex India, a division of TAM
Media Research. They spent US$48.48 million on print media advertisements in 2004.

In May 2005, the Indian Institute of Planning & Management (IIPM) emerged as the highest advertising brand in the print medium with an ad spend of US$1.18 million. In comparison, its April spend amounted to US$647,329. IIPM’s campaign, which sells its MBA courses offered in eight cities, is well timed and is directed at students who are in the Education now spells big business. One indicator of the growing education market is that educational institutions have emerged as the largest ad spending category in print median 2004.

Stanford University will set up its first campus in India soon. Yale University from the US has formed a joint venture with Great Lakes Institute of Management
(Glim) of Chennai to set up a management research centre INDIA, process of deciding on the educational options available to them.A study of advertisements by foreign universities, conducted by the Association of Indian Universities (AIU), reveals that they are increasingly zeroing in on India. The study conducted in 2000 found that of the 144 advertisers, 53 were from the UK, followed by Australia (40), the US (24), Canada (7), and New Zealand. The
other universities are from Bulgaria (2), Cyprus (1), France (2),
Hong Kong (1), Ireland (1), Mauritius (1), Nepal (2), Romania (1),
Russia (1) and Switzerland (3). While 117 institutions are seeking to attract students to their countries, the rest are offering programmes in India. These
programmes are predominantly in the high-demand management
and engineering faculties.

So guys why go there and study when most of the Top and A listed university from around the world are coming to us.

Fuelling India's youth with quality education

During the Independence Day address to the nation last year, Hon'ble Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh mentioned that India needs to ensure far greater availability of educational opportunities at the higher education level so that we have not just a literate youth but a skilled youth, with skills which can fetch gainful employment. However, he expressed concern about the fact that as a country endowed with huge human resources, we cannot let the imminent shortage of skilled employees be a constraint to India's development.

As countries like India race to embrace the next phase of growth and become more globally competitive, it is technology that will provide the advantage. Every country today is vying for a place in the global economy and the network can give them the edge they need. According to Gartner's Market Trends: Industry Analysis, India 2004-2009, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) investments in India are expected to double by 2009, which implies, the need for a skilled workforce is growing exponentially.

Given India's 1.1 billion population it maybe difficult to imagine how we can face a shortage of talent. However, with literacy at 52 percent, high poverty levels (319 Million live below USD 1 per day), India's wide rural-urban divide, and the quality of education available, the paucity of talent is indeed becoming a cause for worry. In particular, this demand-supply gap is already being felt by India's burgeoning IT industry and fears of the gap widening in the future are being examined carefully. In fact, according to NASSCOM, each year over 3 million graduates and post-graduates are added to the Indian workforce. However, of these only 25 percent of technical graduates and 10-15 percent of other graduates are considered employable by the rapidly growing IT and ITES segments. Hence, what we have today is a growing skills gap reflecting the slim availability of high-quality college education in India and the galloping pace of the country's service-driven economy, which is growing faster than most countries in the world.

In this demand-supply gap scenario, a look at the Indian education system will reveal that the number of technical schools in India, including engineering colleges, has actually more than trebled in the last decade, according to the All India Council of Technical Education. Part of the skills gap problem is that only a small percentage of India's youth pursue higher education. No more than 7 per cent of Indians aged 18-25 go to college, according to official statistics. Even a more fundamental level of education is proving difficult with nearly 40 per cent of people over the age of 15 being illiterate (Source: The Economist, "A Survey of Business in India"; June 2006.)

Looking at Northern India alone, studies reveal there are a significant number of engineering institutes: Delhi 14; Chandigarh 5; Haryana 38; Himachal Pradesh 5; J&K 5; Punjab 45; Rajasthan 56. However, problems associated with a dearth of skilled teachers, funding, language, outdated syllabi, etc are commonly faced by educational institutions. Furthermore, today there is a situation wherein the best and most selective universities generate too few graduates and new private colleges are producing graduates of uneven quality leading to an imbalance.

Hence, we see that it is becoming more and more difficult to create a robust and continuous pipeline of talent. The university systems of only a few countries would be able to keep up with such demand and India is certainly having trouble.

As businesses propose to double and treble their workforces and Indian companies strive to maintain their position in the global marketplace, it has become imperative to prepare and plan for a world-class, competent, talented and innovative workforce. It is estimated that India would require a workforce of 5,00,000 capable IT professionals in the IT and IT-enabled services sectors by 2010, according to the Economist survey. However, over the past fifteen years, India has produced 1.6 million professionals and faces the uphill task of producing another 0.8 million in the next two years.

Many of the IT MNC's, viz, Cisco, Intel, Microsoft, Infosys & Wipro have alliances with academic institutions on specific initiatives covering skills based ICT education, faculty upgradation, internships, curriculum workshops, research incubation, etc. aggregating the architects of the new global economy. For instance, institutions like Shaheed Rajguru College of Applied Science in New Delhi, Chitkara College of Engineering, Chandigarh, Banasthali Vidyapith Women's University have tie ups with Cisco, Red Hat, etc.

The time is ripe for us all now to reboot the India education system by various programmes, joint initiatives and other measure by individuals, the government, industry and academia. Such activities have the potential to play an important part in plugging the talent gap in the years to come. Training individuals for the jobs of the future and allowing them to visualise what it possible today will not only make a difference in their lives but will enrich our communities now and for years to come.