India a knowledge superpower

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India will be a knowledge superpower, says Vajpayee

Syed Amin Jafri in Hyderabad

 

With focussed attention at all levels of education, India will be

a "knowledge superpower", Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee said

in Hyderabad on Sunday.

 

Speaking after inaugurating the prestigious Indian School of

Business on Saturday afternoon, Vajpayee recalled that the Planning

Commission recently brought out a document on how to make India a

knowledge superpower.

 

The commission came out with facts, which showed that though 90

percent of the children in India went to primary schools, just over

30 percent of them appeared for the tenth standard examination.

Moreover, the nation-wide pass percentage in this examination was

around 50 percent.

 

"This means that out of 100 children of school-going age, only 13 or

14 will pass the tenth standard examination. In South Korea, for

example, this figure is 68 percent. Which explains why Korea has

made such rapid progress, although India and Korea had a comparable

development index forty years ago," he recalled.

 

The prime minister said that if properly harnessed through an

affordable, relevant and universally accessible education system,

this reservoir of knowledge could miraculously transform India.

 

"We need to pay focussed attention at all levels of the education

pyramid -- from primary education right up to the most advanced

education in science, technology, medicine, management and other

professions. The key that will unlock the full potential of all our

states -- of one billion Indians -- is education," he pointed out.

 

Vajpayee said that there was yet another reason for the Indians to

intensify efforts to expand and improve the education

infrastructure. "India is becoming a 'young nation' in a literal

sense of the word. In 20 years from now, as many as 45 percent of

Indians would be in the 20-plus age group. Against this, 20 years

hence, a large percentage of the population in today's advanced

nations would be of senior citizens," he observed.

 

"This means that young men and women from India, well-educated in

diverse professions, would be in great demand. Of course, this

trained and enriched human resource will also contribute to India's

all-round national renewal," he added.

 

The prime minister said that the educational system in India, both

in the government and private sector, must gear itself up to tap

this great demographic opportunity. "To some extent, this is already

happening. Many of our bright young professionals have earned a name

for themselves and for their motherland in many foreign countries.

What they have done in the field of information technology and

management is a matter of pride for all of us. They are making the

rest of the world look at India with a new sense of admiration," he

said.

 

Referring to the challenges of management in India, he said that he

was acutely aware of the importance of good management of all the

national resources, assets and institutions and, above all, the

management of the most precious resource, namely, time. "The

difference between success and failure, or even between success and

better success, lies in how well we manage our work."