‘India can be a nursery for global talent – but we need to constantly invest in our education system’

Add Review

MBAUniverse.com News Desk |
July 21, 2016
(MBAUniverse.com Bureau)

That was the key thought that emerged at a NASSCOM Summit panel discussion titled ‘Strange rise of modern India: Claiming victory too soon?’ The panel members were Dr Kiran Karnik, president, Nasscom; S Ramadorai, CEO & MD, TCS; Azim Premji, chairman, Wipro; and Edward Luce of the Financial Times. Dr Karnik said, “India can be the nursery for global talent. The massive growth of the IT and ITeS industries in India shows that we have the skills and processes in place. While some problems exist, we will find the solutions.”

The discussion saw several important points being made on the role of education in India’s progress. MBAUniverse.com presents a first-hand report.

S Ramadorai, for his part, said: “Education is fundamental to our growth. While India has huge numbers of engineering and management students, the question is of quality. A suitability gap exists. The quality of talent in top higher education is good, but the challenge is to improve the resource pool in tier 2 and tier 3 schools. Both academicians and companies have to address this together.”

Echoing pretty much the same sentiments, Azim Premji said, “The demand for Indian talent is huge – both in the domestic market and internationally. We need to constantly invest in our education system. Tier 2 institutes need special attention. Right-skilling is also important. At Wipro, we are working on making general graduates do some skilled tasks that earlier were for only engineers.”

Towards the end of the discussions, sounding out a word of caution, Kiran Karnik said, “While our higher education has done our proud, with the IIMs and IITs being the prime examples of our high standards, it’s the primary education of the masses that is a grave concern. The basic education system needs a drastic change.”

On the sidelines of the summit, speaking to MBAUniverse.com on the state of management education, Ramadorai said, “Managerial talent is key to India’s economic progress. However, there is a wide disparity in quality of management education. The second rung institutes can do a lot better.” 

Clearly, the quality higher education has played a critical role in India’s emergence as an IT and outsourcing hub, and leaders were quick to accept the contribution. The concerns too were legitimate – if India has to continue this mega growth, Tier 2 & 3 institutes need to offer better standards of education. And primary education too needs a thrust.