'Competitiveness is linked to talent'

COMPETENCIES: More educational opportunities are needed in India.

Participants in the just-concluded India Economic Summit reached a consensus that the highest priority for raising India's competitiveness is to improve the quality of the country's higher education and technical training, and to broaden learning opportunities nationwide. However, they said that this is not to say that India's educational system has failed.

On the contrary, said Mohamed A. Alabbar, Chairman of Emaar Properties, United Arab Emirates, India has earned a global reputation for the quality of its top graduates.

"India has done so well in education," he said. "We should really give some credit that the Indian education system has done something."

Yet, enterprises face a growing shortage of qualified skilled workers, with many graduates ill-prepared for the real workplace. Many blame a wide disparity in the quality of education across India's schools and universities.

To help address this problem, Minister for Commerce and Industry Kamal Nath announced that the government plans to introduce new legislation that will allow foreign educational institutions to set up in India.

The aim, he said, is not only to help retain the thousands of talented Indians who go abroad for education, but also to lure the many Indian educators teaching in universities abroad back home.

"It's extremely good news," said Michael Rake, International Chairman, KPMG, United Kingdom, of the draft legislation. "The depth of education needs to continue for India to remain competitive."

Participants also stressed the importance of recruiting, managing and retaining skilled and talented workers as crucial to managing India's growth.

"Many industries are simply competing for the same pool of labour," said Nandan Nilekani, President, CEO and Managing Director, Infosys Technologies. "There's a tremendous upsurge in demand."

Panellists also stressed the need to build a reservoir of talent by creating more educational opportunities among the poor. "You can't attack the top end unless you nurture the bottom end," said R. Seshasayee, President of CII.