The Asian Development Bank noted in January 2008 that education in India was lagging seriously behind its rapid economic growth with only 12,000 training and vocational institutes, compared to half a million in China.

 Short-term turbulences aside (just as we are witnessing now), India has entered an era of high economic growth. As we enter the last quarter of FY 2008, the fourth consecutive fiscal when India has witnessed over 8% growth, we find India’s manpower shortages aggravate even further. Just as growth has been multi-sectoral, so have the manpower deficiencies.

 There is a growing demand that the government should increase the outlays on education and do other things to motivate and encourage education. It is true that for India to have consistent rate of growth; Greater levels of R&D, combined with extensive investment in workforce can make a significant contribution. Part of the solution lies in forging strong partnerships between the private sector and the academia. They should be developed in tandem with the government to ensure that courses like computer science are nurtured and developed as a discipline in schools.