Description

In the modern world knowledge has become the chief instrument of human progress. The creation and application of knowledge, and therefore the creation of a country’s wealth is squarely  predicated on the quality of its human resources. Human resources of a country have thus become a strategic consideration with the developed and the developing country’s alike. Many countries in Asia, Europe and the American continent are already reviewing and re-assessing their education systems with a futuristic perspective.

India, upon its economic liberalization at the turn of the century, emerged as a strong contender world over, both in economic and technological arenas. The promise of a large and educated work force, often referred to as the demographic dividend, has been a subject matter of discussion on various forums. However, down the road the country’s education system seems to have gotten mired in vexing issues relating to quality and relevance of higher education. This is clearly reflected by the mounting pile of unemployable and un-trainable degree holders generated by the colleges and Universities of the country. This is likely to lead to unpleasant social and economic consequences in future. Need therefore arises to identify and address the issues that give rise to misalignments between the human resource needs of the country and its higher education apparatus. The discussion in the following chapters attempts to understand the disturbing undercurrents of our higher education system and suggest ways in which changes may be affected to make the system strong, vibrant and aligned to the interests of this great country.

          Jai Anand Shukul