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India has made tremendous strides in its economic and social
development in the past two decades. With the economy growing at more than 9%,
all major sectors are witnessing exponential growth. And, all this has been
aptly supported by a sound educational system. However, it is important that the
education system is revamped and fine-tuned to make it match the changing
domestic and international requirements.
Education is a critical input in human resource development. It
plays a crucial role in the development of society. Greater literacy and basic
education help individuals make better use of available economic opportunities.
Education forms the backbone of a nation and is one of the most important
indicators of a countrys growth and development. The major indicators of
socio-economic developmentgrowth rate of the economy, birth and death rates,
infant mortality rate (IMR), and literacy rateare interconnected. The
literacy rate of a country has been a major determinant in the rise and fall of
other indicators.
The New Asset
Education is becoming more significant in the new world of information.
Knowledge is rapidly replacing raw materials and labor as the most critical
input for success. Knowledge has become the new asset. More than half of the GDP
of developing countries like India is knowledge-based. This necessarily means
that education and knowledge are at the centerstage of any development process.
The rise of the knowledge economy at a global level has once again reinforced
education, in all its forms, as the key economic and business driver.
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| Source: IDC Report |
| The IT market in the education
sector is forecast to increase at a CAGR of 18.6% for the period 2006-2011 |
The education sector in India is trifurcated into elementary,
secondary, and higher education. Besides, there is technical education, adult
education, distance education, language development, scholarships, book
promotion, and planning and administration. Elementary education encompasses
education of children aged between 6-14 years; secondary education, between
14-18; and higher education, students aged 18 and above.
Realizing the importance of education, the government has
decided to make free and compulsory elementary education a fundamental right.
The central government, in partnership with state governments, has initiated a
number of programs to fulfill the constitutional obligation and national
aspirations for education. These include National Literacy Mission and Sarva
Shiksha Abhiyan. Though these programs have tasted some success, the needs of
the growing population demand that such programs do a lot more to achieve the
desired results.
Public-Private Partnership
As education was considered a social service in the past, the government was
the sole provider of education. However, with liberalization and globalization
of economy, it has become evident that government alone cannot bear the cost of
the education sector. While the private sector has stepped in to fill the gap
and has increasingly enhanced its profile in the education sector over the last
decade, its role is still not properly defined and is far from satisfactory.
The key challenges faced by the education sector are: low
accessibility, low participation and still lower equity, quality of the
education imparted and relevance to the changing times. In fact, the Indian
education system has not been able to keep pace with the developments in the
outer arena and, thus, its value is dwindling on the global front. This has made
the Indian government change the education policies and make the sector more
vibrant and flexible to meet the rapidly diversifying needs of the growing
economy.
A Knowledge Economy
The time is opportune for India to make its transition to the knowledge
economyan economy that creates, disseminates, and uses knowledge to enhance
its growth and development. India has many of the key ingredients for making
this transition. It has a critical mass of skilled, English-speaking knowledge
workers, especially in the sciences and technology sector, a well-functioning
democracy, one of the largest markets in the world, macroeconomic stability, a
dynamic private sector, a well-developed financial sector, and a broad and
diversified science and technology infrastructure. But, the most favored
advantage is a well-developed ICT sector. Building on its IT strengths, India
can harness the benefits of the knowledge revolution to improve its economic
performance and boost the welfare of its people.
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| Technology has a pivotal role
to play in the future of education. At one level, it is through better use
of existing communication technologies that can improve the quality of
education in India. At another level is the spread of information
technology for revolutionizing content and delivery of education. |
Rapid advances in ICT are dramatically affecting economic and
social activities, as well as the acquisition, creation, dissemination, and use
of knowledge. The use of ICT is reducing transaction costs and lowering the
barriers of time and space. More people have come in the gambit of educational
services because of the increased reach facilitated by newer delivery channels
for the Indian educational system.
The educational institutions in India, along with the support
and dedicated efforts of the Ministry of Human Resource and Development, are
looking to build up their basic IT infrastructure and develop networking between
their various institutes spread across the country. With the setting in of new
concepts like online education, cyber-age education, distance education,
e-learning and virtual learning environment, the IT market in the education
sector is going to be driven by the hardware and software markets. A major boost
to the hardware is given by the fact that today the emphasis is on delivering
the educational content in soft forms like on CDs, Internet, through mails and
other soft copies. The content is losing its value in the hard form of printed
books and magazines.
A revolutionary concept emerging on the landscape of the Indian
education system is Computers On Wheels (COWs). They hold a set of computers (10
to 20), usually laptops, often a printer, with the possibility to connect to a
school network via one network connection. COWs can be wheeled into a classroom
when the teacher wants to use computers for a specific activity. Thus, the cost
of establishing a computer laboratory is saved. And, this is just a beginning;
there are many more innovative concepts in the pipeline. Tomorrow, the Indian
children will be able to study from their homes through the Internet and
web-conferencing. Thus, the education segment in India is expected to see a
major IT revolution by 2011, largely driven by the lure of online delivery of
study material, revolutionary concepts and online education.
The Internet is capturing people who have never been touched by
education. Therefore, India is expected to become the school and the university
for the dot-com generation in another 4-5 years. With all shaping up well for
the growing IT market in the Indian education sector, it is now up to the
vendors to fine-tune their offerings to the specific needs of the sector and
work in close collaboration with institutes and universities. The vast potential
lies untapped, the initiative to capture it needs to unfold.
Parishesh Mishra and
Arpan Gupta,
Industry Verticals Research Practice, IDC India
maildqindia@cybermedia.co.in Page(s) 1
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