Budget 2018: Why education and skills development may continue to languish

Despite promises to the contrary, successive governments have failed to raise the allocation to the sector. This year is unlikely to be any different

India’s growing economy requires a world-class competent workforce to effectively function in the knowledge economy. Of the total working population, only about 10 per cent possesses vocational and technical education and training. The corresponding ratio in countries like China, Korea and others, with which India has to compete in the global market, is over sixty per cent.
 
The workforce is therefore woefully unproductive due mainly to the abysmal state of India’s education system, which churns out millions of adults equipped only for menial work. Its graduates go on to toil in small and micro enterprises that operate in the