India aims to achieve 100% functional literacy by ensuring every Indian can read and write. It also aims to build a 700 million strong globally employable workforce, including 200 million university graduates and 500 million skilled people. Additionally, India seeks to develop world-class infrastructure to become a global hub for knowledge creation, talent development, and entrepreneurial incubation. The document outlines strategies to achieve these goals such as increasing access to education, emphasizing experiential learning over rote memorization, expanding vocational training programs, improving higher education infrastructure, and developing globally recognized skills standards and certification.

1. N a t i o n a l v i s i o n D o c u m e n t
Inspired by Prof. C K
Prahalad

2. Education and Skill
Development
• India achieves 100% functional literacy – every Indian can read and write
• India builds a 700 million strong globally employable workforce, including 200 million university graduates and
500 million skilled people
• India develops world class infrastructure to become a global hub for knowledge creation, talent development
and entrepreneurial incubation
• India sets global standards and becomes a scale provider of values based learner-centric education, skills
development and professional educators through industry partnerships
14 The Boston Consulting Group - Confederation of Indian Industry - Young Indians

3. India achieves 100% functional literacy – every
Indian can read and write
The one dream that unites all of India, everyone every-
where, is that of 100% literacy. Every man, woman and
child should be able to acquire reading, writing and com-
putational skills for effective day to day living (functional
literacy). To achieve this, there is an urgent need to
broaden the currently accepted definition of literacy.
Education must become more affordable and accessible in
order to realize this vision. If we can ensure that the
poorest families in the remotest village can send their kids
to school, we can bring about a revolutionary change in
the country. Schools can become centres of rural
renaissance and contribute in many ways to making our
villages more vibrant and economically active.
Our target should be to establish at least one primary
school within reach of each village and to ensure that
every child in the age group of 6-14 years is enrolled and
stays in these schools. This will guarantee that each child
is exposed to better opportunities, which in turn will
translate into a healthier, prosperous, more involved and
Voices of India
“100% education: affordable, accessible, ac-
countable”
“Market mechanisms to ensure equal oppor-
tunities for all”
“Compulsory & quality primary education for
all children”
“Adult education to be encouraged through
night schools”
“100% enrolment for all students in age
group between 6 to 14 years”
“0% dropout till class 10”
more productive population.
Exhibit 1. Enrolment rates are high at the primary stage but high dropout ratios are
the bigger concern
Source: Annual Report 2007-08, Department of school education, Govt of India
India@75 – The Peoples
‚
agenda 15

4. People also envision a more inclusive education
system equipped to deal with the requirements of
children with special needs. Special efforts are needed
to attract and retain children from poor backgrounds
and discriminated segments such as girls. Government
schemes like the ICDS (Integrated Child Development
Scheme) and Mid-day Meals are a good start to ensure
that every child has access to fundamental health,
education and develop-ment.
We need to move from 65%
literacy to 100%; that’s almost
400 million people waiting to
learn how to read and write
Some of the challenges that need to be overcome
include: Malnutrition, the pressure on children to enter
the work-force, older children being forced to take up
domestic chores. As India moves into the 21st century,
we need to ensure that our country stands on firm
foundations of educated and empowered youth. This
means that we need to move from 65% literacy to
100%; that’s almost 400 million people waiting to be
educated on basic literacy.
India builds a 700 million strong globally
employable workforce, including 200 million
university graduates and 500 million skilled people
Most of India’s population of 1.2 billion is young. With
almost 60% of the population (700 million) in the work-
ing age group, we have a demographic advantage
waiting to be exploited. People across the country
realize the immense opportunity that exists in equipping
our work-force with the necessary knowledge and skills
to make them globally employable. This can provide
the necessary drive for our manufacturing and services
sec-tors to gain leadership in the world. Imagine a
country of 200 million university graduates trained in
fields like engineering, medicine, law and management
– a group capable of analytical thought who have come
out of a system which promotes experiential learning.
We have the potential to make this a reality.
Our education system must be transformed to adapt to the
changing needs of society. Experiential learning must be
emphasized rather than rote memorization which is
Voices of India
“Vocational colleges based on local require-
ments facilitating employment & entrepre-
neurship”
“Specialization from class 10th for job orient-
ed education”
“National / uniform career counselling at
standard 7-8 level”
“Skill development / professional education
to be made more affordable”
“100% gainful employment”
prevalent in even the best of schools in our country.
Individual learner-centric learning systems designed to
allow each person to choose his / her own learning path
can help ensure that our system produces many
individuals who can lead thought and spur innovation.
Additionally, we have the capacity to become the world’s
largest hub of vocationally trained people. Nearly 40% of
our population (500 million) comprises of people who can
potentially be trained and certified with globally ac-cepted
standards. It may not be too far in the future that Indian
construction workers, for example, are flown in to build
bridges in the US or entire cities in Africa because the
world realizes their skill level and professionalism.
For this vision to become a reality, our system should
create opportunities for pursuing vocational education
rather than encourage a mindless rush for degrees.
Along with graduate education, a parallel stream of
vocational education could be introduced to open up
immediate employment and entrepreneurial options. To
promote vocational education, we can introduce job
oriented courses at school level, provide early
counseling, flexibility to switch between graduate and
vocational streams and increase social acceptance of
entrepreneurial ventures.
Every year, about 15 million people enter the workforce
but most are unemployable as less than 5% have under-
gone vocational training and only about 13% consist of
graduates and post-graduates. The majority is illiterate or
16 The Boston Consulting Group - Confederation of Indian Industry - Young Indians

5. Exhibit 2. Less than 25% of people joining the
be graduates or vocationally trained
Source: India’s Demographic Dilemma, BCG (2008)
school drop-outs. It is critical that various industries get
involved in sharing the high cost of training and
conduct-ing remedial courses for disadvantaged
sections of society. Even while creating vocational
capacity, we need to be aware of the tremendous
diversity of vocational skills. A comprehensive mapping
of skills to industry requirements must be done to
identify the high priority areas. A qualification and
credits framework also needs to be put in place to
enable a seamless transition between institutions as
well as between graduate and vocational education
systems. We will also need to evolve market based
standards and national standards of certification if we
wish to improve the quality of our institutions.
India develops world class infrastructure to become a
global hub for knowledge creation, talent development
and entrepreneurial incubation
As India moves towards becoming a developed nation, the
ability to create and disseminate knowledge will become a
major determinant of success. With increasing demand for
higher education, we possess the potential to
India@75 – The Peoples
‚
agenda
Exhibit 2. Less than 25% of people joining the workforce over the next 5 years will
be graduates or vocationally trained
India’s Demographic Dilemma, BCG (2008)
outs. It is critical that various industries get
high cost of training and
ing remedial courses for disadvantaged
sections of society. Even while creating vocational
capacity, we need to be aware of the tremendous
diversity of vocational skills. A comprehensive mapping
rements must be done to
identify the high priority areas. A qualification and
credits framework also needs to be put in place to
enable a seamless transition between institutions as
well as between graduate and vocational education
ed to evolve market based
standards and national standards of certification if we
wish to improve the quality of our institutions.
India develops world class infrastructure to become a
global hub for knowledge creation, talent development
As India moves towards becoming a developed nation, the
ability to create and disseminate knowledge will become a
major determinant of success. With increasing demand for
higher education, we possess the potential to
“Institutes of international repute focusing on
research”
“At least one professional college in every
taluka”
“Better pay to scientists and PhD holders”
“Increase of faculty size and graduate pro
grams by 100 %”
“Increase national institutes (IITs, IIM
“World class universities as well as facilities”
become the world’s leading knowledge provider and home
to the world’s best talent. Knowledge can become the
springboard for India’s growth in the 21st century.
workforce over the next 5 years will
Voices of India
“Institutes of international repute focusing on
research”
“At least one professional college in every
“Better pay to scientists and PhD holders”
“Increase of faculty size and graduate pro-
grams by 100 %”
“Increase national institutes (IITs, IIMs)”
“World class universities as well as facilities”
become the world’s leading knowledge provider and home
to the world’s best talent. Knowledge can become the
springboard for India’s growth in the 21st century.
17
become the world’s leading knowledge provider and home
to the world’s best talent. Knowledge can become the
17

6. To accomplish this, there should be greater access to
higher education and more colleges and universities
need to be established within reach of each district.
These in-stitutions should be of international standards
and focus on delivering academic and professional
excellence. Graduate programs which cater to various
streams of education apart from engineering and
medicine and promote talent in the field of arts should
be introduced. Can 30 of our Indian universities make it
to the list of top 100 universities of the world by 2022?
People wish to see a focus on leading research so that we
can be at the forefront of new knowledge services and
contribute more to the world’s scientific advancement in
the form of research publications and patents. Today, only
a few institutions in the country can boast of world class
infrastructure and output. All Indian institutions can
potentially be among the best in the world if we are able to
provide incentives like globally competitive compensation
for researchers and develop methods to recognize and
reward excellence. Today, some of the most respected
faculty and recognized management thinkers
abroad are
Indians. A
supportive envi-
ronment will
enable us to not
just retain our
brightest minds
but also attract
the best from all
over the world.
In the business domain, Indian leaders are already
making their mark globally by taking up leadership at a
number of multi-national companies. However, many of
them chose to be educated abroad. We should aim to
provide quality management education that is at par
with the best colleges in the world. While a few
institutes have achieved global quality, there is a need
for may more to do so. All our management and
technical institutes should encourage entrepreneurial
activity by setting up incubation centres to provide
guidance and funding to budding entrepreneurs.
Experts have called for multiple independent accredita-
tion systems for educational programs at all
levels to tackle the poor standards of our institutions.
This will provide credible information to institutions
encouraging them to upgrade their infrastructure and
quality of courses and to adopt certain minimum
standards.
There is a need for an independent regulatory body for
educational institutions which creates appropriate entry
norms for private / foreign institutions, fosters account-
ability and promotes innovation in education. This will
encourage greater private participation. India
possesses the potential to become the educational
centre of the world. Retaining our high quality talent
and building excellent educational infrastructure should
be our focus to actualize this vision.
India sets global standards and becomes a scale
provider of values based learner-centric education,
skills development and professional educators
through industry partnerships
Many people across the country have expressed a hope of
seeing a corruption-free India. They want to see citizens
who are of strong character, are ethical and are globally
respected and trusted. Many have called for the
incorporation of values based, learner centric education in
our school curriculum to overcome the increasing
corrosion of our value system. It would induce great pride
to see India become one of the top 10 countries in the
global indices of transparency and corruption.
The future of our children, and consequently our country,
is dependant on the availability of well-trained teachers in
our schools, colleges and universities. The lack of
Voices of India
“Quality education for building a sound and
sustainable base”
“Inclusive and learner-friendly atmosphere
in all schools”
“Educators as role models”
“Character building, quality and values-
based education”
“Education to inculcate moral awareness”
18 The Boston Consulting Group - Confederation of Indian Industry - Young Indians
of the world by 2022?
list of top 100 universities
universities make it to the
Can 30 of our Indian

7. trained teachers is evident from the current teacher-
student ratio of 1:60 at the primary level. Additionally on
any given day, 25% of the teachers are usually absent.
People across the country called for an improved
teacher-student ratio in all schools/colleges and
mandatory certification for all teachers using one single
national norm. People envision teachers playing a key
role as counselors and model citizens in society. It is
essential to professionalize teaching and ensure that
teacher’s compensations are at par with jobs in other
sectors. Teaching should become an occupation of
choice for the youth of our country.
To improve the quality of teaching, it is critical to facilitate
partnerships between academia and industry. This has the
potential to become a virtuous cycle by ensuring that our
industry benefits from the expertise of teachers and
professors, and the teachers in turn can gain knowledge
about the practical challenges faced by industry. The
academia can constantly update the curriculum which
would lead to the creation of employable people who can
benefit both business and society.
India@75 – The Peoples
‚
agenda 19