Presentation given by Dr Pankaj Mittal, Vice Chancellor, BPS Women’s University on July 13,2011 at WORLD EDUCATION SUMMIT (www.worldeducationsummit.net) in the Higher Education Track: IMPERATIVES FOR GROWTH IN A KNOWLEDGE ECONOMy: PERSPECTIVES FROM THE LEADERSHIP

1. Imperatives for growth in a Knowledge Economy By Dr(Mrs) Pankaj Mittal Vice Chancellor BPS Women University, Sonepat, Haryana vc@bpswomenuniversity.ac.in

2. Key resources Agricultural economy – Land Industrial Economy – Natural Resources(Coal, Iron ore, Labour) Knowledge Economy – Knowledge … … an economy that creates, disseminates and uses knowledge to enhance the growth and development of a nation. KE is not only ICT revolution & hi-tech industry, it is use of existing knowledge to improve productivity of agriculture, industry & services and increase overall welfare. What is the Knowledge Economy?

3. Why India can benefit the most from KE? Has critical mass of skilled, Eng speaking knowledge workers. Has well functioning democracy. Domestic market is one of the world’s largest. Has large and impressive Diaspora having knowledge, linkages and networks. Has macroeconomic stability and dynamic private sector. Has well developed financial sector. Has diversified science and technology infrastructure. Has a well developed IT Sector. Has become a global provider of software services. Advantage India…

4. Strengthening the economic & institutional regime. Developing educated & skilled workers Creating an efficient innovation system Building a dynamic information infrastructure Pillars of Knowledge Economy

5. Strengths: Critical mass of educated workforce, abundant raw material, a strong infrastructure for supporting private enterprises, advanced legal system, independent judiciary, secure property rights & good corporate governance. Barriers: Multiplicity of regulations governing product markets, wide spread government ownership of businesses, relatively closed economy (share of exports in GDP is half as compared to China and Korea), excessive regulation of entry and exit of firms. Strengthening the economic & institutional regime.

6. Education is fundamental enabler of KE. Well educated and skilled people essential for creating, sharing, disseminating and using knowledge effectively. KE demands- not only ICT skills but also soft skills as problem solving, analytical skills, group learning, team work and effective communication. This needs education system that is flexible- basic education for building foundation, HE for developing core skills to encourage creative & critical thinking & life long learning for skill updation. Developing Educated and skilled workers

7. Investments in basic education crucial to improve productivity and quality of labour and deliver the manpower needed for their development. Literacy rate improved tremendously. Accounts for one quarter of world’s 104 million children out of school. Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 Quality remains an issue. Building strong education system…

8. Large pool of highly educated manpower for local & global needs but it constitutes a small fraction. To create a sustained cadre of “knowledge workers”, it needs to develop a more relevant education system and reorient classroom teaching and learning objectives which promotes creativity. HE system to be more demand driven, quality conscious and forward looking. Mismatch between education and labour market. Using ICT, distance learning for enhancing access. Building strong education system…

9. Skills more important in competitive global market. Firms and farmers alike must learn and develop new skills. Improve skill and education level for masses through vocational education apart from HE. Consistency between skills taught and needs of KE Develop a system of life long learning through formal system (schools, ITI, polytechnics), nonformal learning (structured OJT), and informal learning (skills learned from family, community) Building strong education system…

10. Remarkable job of diffusing knowledge and technology especially in agriculture – Green Revolution – turning India from importer to exporter of food grains. White revolution – Twin gains- raising income of rural poor families and raising the nutrition status. India to build on its innovative domestic strengths and undertake efforts to improve the productivity of agriculture, industry and service further. Improve R & D infrastructure. (70% R&D by Govt, 27% by enterprises and 3% by HEI) Creating a Innovation System…

11. Consists of telecommunication networks, strategic information systems, policy and legal frameworks and skilled human resources. Use of ICT reducing transaction costs and lowering the barriers of time and space. IT- Essential backbone of KE Indian mobile telephony cheapest in the world. Existence of skilled low cost IT manpower NKN, NPTEL, NMEICT Building a dynamic Information Infrastructure…

12. India was a latecomer to the industrial revolution. It cannot afford to miss the knowledge revolution! We must convert our demography into a dividend using Knowledge Economy. Thank you pmittal@ugc.ac.in vc@bpswomenuniversity.ac.in