A highly skilled workforce

Updated on: Tuesday, March 29, 2011

With the government planning to achieve 30% gross enrolment ratio (GER) by 2020, enrolment is a priority in India. Consequently, there has been a focus not only on adding to the numbers in higher education, but also sustaining those numbers.

In fact, a new research by Geraint Johnes, professor of economics, Lancaster University Management School, UK, connects the two — greater number of people staying on in education and the kind of jobs they opt for.
Johnes' research reveals that with the Indian education policy encouraging more and more people to stay on in education, there has been a shift towards a knowledgebased workforce. Johnes adds that this makes India wellplaced to not only compete with the rest of the world in manufacturing and industries, but also in the high knowledge/skill sectors.

Johnes says that the enrolment rate in higher education was stable — at around five to six percent — for many years up to 1996. Then, it started to rise rapidly, more than doubling over the next 10 years.
"This coincided with the creation of higher education institutions in response to the perceived need for a highly educated workforce following the changes in the economy in the wake of the 1991 trade reforms," he says.
According to Johnes, education equips people with skills that enable them to become productive in more challenging roles. So it raises the supply of skilled labour.

Pointing out the challenges of a developing and emerging economy like India, he further adds, "The dynamics between demand and supply of skilled labour is tricky. If supply expands too fast, there will not be enough jobs that demand the skills of an educated workforce. If it expands too slowly, it cannot generate development. Therefore, there has to be a balance so that firms become aware of the attractions offered by the Indian skilled workforce." Explaining the relationship between education and occupational choice, Johnes says that people who are equipped with higher-level skills have a broader range of occupations open to them. Education raises their productivity (also their remuneration) in the more challenging occupations. So they are more likely to choose these occupations.

Times of India

A highly skilled workforce

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