Quality higher education vital to India's growth over next 20 years: CEA

Chief Economic Adviser V Anantha Nageswaran on Wednesday said that quality, relevance and adaptability of higher education will play a key role in transforming India's demographic dividend into growth accelerator in next 20 years.

Speaking at the CII Global Higher Education Summit here, he said, states hold the key to the next phase of higher education reform in India.

He stressed on addressing shortage of teachers urgently through mechanisms such as professors of practice and also improving the quality of education.

Other key priorities for states include a shift from control to stewardship, moving from input-based to outcome-based regulation, adopting an entrepreneurial approach in public administration, and financing institutions based on differentiated roles and outcomes.

 

"India is at a demographic and economic inflection point. Over the next two decades, millions of young Indians will enter the working age population. Whether this demographic dividend becomes a growth accelerator or a social strain will depend in large measure on the quality, relevance and adaptability of our higher education system," he said.

"The groundwork for the policy has already been laid. The NEP has opened doors. Regulatory thinking is evolving. What is now required is execution, institutional courage and cooperative federalism," he said.

Nageswaran also called for deeper industry engagement in curriculum design, research, and governance.

"Industry can co-design curricula, offer credit-bearing internships, support applied research, share infrastructure, and participate meaningfully in governance," he said, adding that collaboration between government, states, industry, and citizens can help India move from scale to leadership and emerge as a global hub for learning, research and ideas.