Rebooting higher education

Skilling and improving the employability of India's graduating workforce remains the country's biggest challenge, as well as its greatest opportunity

Reality bites. When the prime minister quipped that it was better to sell pakodas  than to be jobless, his statement kicked up a huge row, but he was merely stating facts; that there is greater dignity in being a productive person, than being jobless.

India is a nation with an incredible skill and education paradox. Several government and private initiatives have resulted in ramping up the numbers of higher education institutions across the country; at last count, there were 800 universities and 48,000 colleges. Yet, only 3.5 per cent of the country’s workforce is categorised as skilled and well-trained. This compares