Education can push GDP by additional four per cent: Satyarthi

The Nobel Laureate described illiteracy as the biggest impediment to the growth of any country

The Indian economy can clock an addition of four per cent in the growth rate if everyone is educated over the next 10 years, Nobel Laureate Kailash Satyarthi said here on Saturday.

"If we educate everyone over the next 10 years, then our GDP growth rate will be higher by four per cent. The path to sustained economic growth rate lies in quality education," he said while addressing a conference of the Rotary India Literacy Mission.

He described illiteracy as the biggest impediment to the growth of any country.

Identifying apathy, fear, and intolerance as the three biggest enemies before the world now, he regretted that today's youths are more intolerant and impatient than their preceding generation.

"Intolerance is also growing globally among children. Today's youth are not so tolerant as you were in your past. They do not have that much of patience," Satyarthi said.

Besides intolerance, he said, the two other serious enemies before the world are apathy and fear.

"There is competition everywhere, whether in office or elsewhere. This is narrowing our minds and we are being apathetic to our neighbours," he said, adding that terrorism results into fear across the globe.

Satyarthi said education was the answer to the ills as it could bring in virtues like empathy, ethics, and excellence.

He said as long as children remain the cheapest source of labour, adults would remain jobless.

On Rotary India's mission to eradicate illiteracy from the country, he promised he and his organisation would work with the Rotarians to ensure additional one lakh children go to school every year.

Besides the Bachpan Bachao Andolan, he has also started the Kailash Satyarthi Children's Foundation after winning the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014.