voa标准英语2008-Study: India Must Educate Young Workforce to Avo

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A boy smokes a cigarette at a cafeteria in Bangalore, India (File)

Nearly half of India's billion-plus people are under the age of 25 - the youngest population in the world. Economists¹ call it the demographic dividend² - an opportunity to harness the skills and talent of young people, in a growing economy, at a time when most countries have aging populations.

But a new report released by the Confederation of Indian Industry and the Boston Consulting Group in New Delhi Thursday warns that India's young population could turn into a demographic disaster, if the country does not take immediate³ steps to train people poised⁴ to enter the work force.

Managing director of the Boston Consulting Group in India, Janmejaya Sinha, says that, on one hand, Indian industry is struggling to find qualified⁵ talent to fuel its expansion. On the other, nearly half of the current work force of nearly 484 million people continues to be illiterate⁶.

"Forty percent of them are illiterate, another 40 percent of them, they are school dropouts. If you really look at it, there are more than 200 million people who are almost illiterate, not being able to participate in the real economy of the world, which is the opportunity of the 21st Century offers. Think about it then," said Sinha. "If these people have hopeless chances in life, what would they be led into?

The report, called India's Demographic Dilemma⁷, says that India's fast-expanding services sector⁸ will face a shortfall of at least 750,000 engineers and other skilled personnel, in the next five years. It says the talent crunch⁹ will be massive in four high-growth sectors¹⁰: information technology, banking¹¹, retail¹² and health care. It says that failure to make skilled people available will keep most people confined to the agriculture sector, where earnings¹³ are meager¹⁴.

The report stresses the need to revamp the education system in India, from the primary to the university level, and improve vocational training.

Education is mostly controlled by the government and the problems are huge. From villages to cities, the number of schools is too small and quality of education is poor. The school drop out rate is high.

Sinha, of Boston Consulting Group, says the private sector should be allowed to enter this crucial area.

"Even today, education is in the not-for-profit sector. There is no need for it to be in the not-for profit sector. If it was brought into the profit sector, it would become transparent¹⁵, money would flow into it," added Sinha. "The government needs to increase its spending and there needs to be more accountability in how you actually doing this."

The report warns that a failure to make India's huge young population productive will mean that the country will have an army of young people "left behind," and ready to vent¹⁶ their frustration¹⁷ in what it predicts will be "violence and rage that may challenge the very fabric¹⁸ of our society."

In recent years, many experts have voiced fears that rising disparity between India's affluent¹⁹ and poor could stoke social tensions. The government has said it wants more inclusive growth and will try to ensure that the benefits of an expanding economy trickle²⁰ down to the poor sections.