A historic day that can change our future



India's potential workforce of 100 m set to join in the next decade can be the biggest reason for the economy's dominance over the US and China. The workforce is expected to be as technologically sound as the minds in the West. Equipped with much better English language skills than their Chinese counterparts. This is something even President Obama has warned the US citizens about. With 50% of her population under the age of 25, India's workforce is expected to account for 25% of the global workforce in 2020. Thus, India has a chance of becoming one of the world's most prolific talent providers.

However, the ground reality is in stark contradiction. Only one out of every eight school going children in India manage to get a college degree. Compare this with the ratio of five out of eight in the US. As per the Education Ministry, of the roughly 509 m workers currently employed in India, only 12% are skilled. Such is the paucity of skill development in our nation that all arguments of economic potential fall flat.

NASSCOM reported that a whopping 75% of the fresh engineering graduates in India are unemployable. The WEF's 2009 Global Competitiveness Index ranked India at an abysmal 101 (out of the 133 countries evaluated) for its primary education. However, a lot of this is set to change. Hopefully for the better.

From this day, April 1 2010, the Right to Education Act (RTE) is expected to ensure basic elementary education to every child in India. This can take the nation atleast closer to ensuring adequate employment to its youth. Ajit Dayal, our founder, who recently spoke at the Equitymaster Investment Summit 2010, pegs the requirement of daily job creation at 27,700 per day for the next 10 years! The task is certainly not easy. Reportedly, 1.2 m teachers are needed to implement the RTE Act to its core. Leave alone the other infrastructure. We earnestly hope that the government sticks to its promises on this one. If not, the fate of our future generation and our long term investments may be sealed.