Development and HRD in India

Transcription

1 Development and HRD in India By Mala Dutt India IDEAS 20 th Anniversary Tokyo March 10, 2010

2 Development and HRD in India Introduction: 1. Knowledge has always been a distinguishing characteristic of human beings in view of their unique capacity to formulate and consciously transmit knowledge from one generation and location to another. In recent years, knowledge society has gained prominence due to advances in technology and related applications. The knowledge revolution marks a fundamental shift in human development from being limited to material processes to the infinite and creative potential of human processes. Thus, knowledge societies have to address issues about how information and ideas are to be created and, thereafter, adopted at an accelerating speed. Applying new knowledge continuously results in continuous innovation which yields social dividends for the civil society through, inter alia, greater levels of education, empowerment of women and improved health, which together result in improved Human Resource Development (HRD). The latter, in turn, is an important objective of development planning, since it is one of the most effective means to achieving higher levels of overall development. The growth process is intimately dependent on integrated development of each individual right from childhood and throughout life. While economic growth is important, it has to be accompanied by improvements in quality of life of the people for the development process to be sustainable in the medium to long run. An educated and empowered population resulting from proper human development strategies can significantly contribute to increased productivity and, thereby, sustainable economic growth and development. Hence, HRD is often referred to as the engine of growth and development. 2. The former President of India, Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, a renowned scientist, projected a Vision for India in 2020 as a strong democratic country. He firmly believed that his vision of a strong country will be fulfilled by building upon the 2

3 contributions of each individual citizen. This statement clearly demonstrates the significance of HRD in the development of the country. 3. HRD deals with all aspects of human development whether they relate to poverty, gender discrimination, denial of human rights and liberty, impact of globalization and environmental concerns. The present Paper focuses on education, including skill development, aspect of HRD as it constitutes one of the most significant challenges being faced by India at present. Status of HRD: 4. The adult literacy rate in India as per UNDP Statistical Update 2008 was 65.2% which ranked India at 148 among 179 countries. As per the Human Development Report 2009, the Human Development Index (HDI) for India in 2007 was 0.612, placing it at 134 th position in a list of 182 countries (Annex 1; Table 1). The HDI is based on three dimensions of human development, namely life expectancy at birth, being educated as measured by adult literacy rate and gross enrolment ratio (GER), and having a decent standard of living as measured by the per capita GDP in terms of purchasing power parity. The movement of HDI over the years from 2000 to 2007 in India and other selected countries show that improvement in HDI in India in recent years has been better than in several countries such as Brazil, Sri Lanka and Indonesia (Annex 1; Table 2). However, adult literacy rate in 2007 was 66% in India as against 90% in Brazil, 90.8% in Sri Lanka and 92% in Indonesia. Also, the combined GER in education in 2007 was 61% in India as compared to 87.2% in Brazil and more than 68% in Sri Lanka and Indonesia. Moreover, India s HDI rank is lower than its per capita GDP rank by six places, indicating that India s human development effort still needs to catch up with the progress made in GDP per capita. Of the various components in HDI, gross enrolment ratio is considered as most responsive to short term policy changes. This points to the need for taking policy initiatives in the education sector. As of 2007, the GER was 78.13% for school education (age 6 to 18 years) and 3

4 12.39% for higher education (age 18 to 24 years). Also, the GER is lower for girls than for boys in all the categories. State-wise break-up of the GERs is at Annex 2. Current Challenges: 5. The current challenges facing India with respect to HRD are to universalize secondary education and provide the right to education to all children, achieve full literacy for adults, upscale higher and technical education, and expand opportunities for vocational training. In addition, the Government is also faced with the challenges of drawing up inclusive plans to bridge regional, social, gender and economic disparities which would provide equality of opportunity as well as a productive and meaningful life for all. A related challenge is to ensure availability of funds for ensuring upgradation and strengthening of education infrastructure required to meet the desired objectives. 6. To meet these challenges and to achieve the ultimate goals of HRD, special schemes have been drawn up by the Government of India to focus on specific segments of the education system, by inter alia, promoting the participation of the private sector. Government of India has also formulated various instruments and created agencies which have been suitably integrated together to optimize available resources. In view of different requirements of each sector of education, school education and university/technical education have been segregated so as to ensure separate focus on each sector. Vocational education is also focused upon separately. Thus, the education sector policy of the Government deals with different stages/segments of education namely, primary, secondary, university, technical and vocational education, while also paying separate attention to girls education, adult education and education of economically and socially disadvantaged communities. The objectives of Government policy are sought to be achieved through formulation of annual plans and long term and medium term plans, along with milestones and target dates. It also involves coordination with related institutions and dovetailing these developments plan with plans of other sectors so as to achieve the national goals and objectives including HRD. With 4

5 this objective in mind, public investment in education as percentage of GDP has been increased from 2.60% in to 3.23% in During the same period, public investment in education as percentage of total expenditure has been increased from 9.70% in to 10.6% in (Annex 3). Public investment is being suitably supplemented by encouraging private investment, directly as well as through PPPs. 7. In view of the fact that India has a federal system of governance, with States (administrative divisions into which the country is divided) being administered by State Governments under overall policy directions of the Central Government, implementation of Central Government policy also involves close coordination with the State and local administrations, particularly since the policy relating to education, except higher and technical education, is the responsibility of State Governments. Initiatives Taken: Elementary Education: 8. The National Policy on Education (NPE), 1986, has prescribed decentralized planning and management of elementary education as the goal of the Policy. This is sought to be achieved through direct involvement of the community in the form of Village Education Committees. The Plan of Action, 1992, emphasized microplanning for designing a family-wise and child-wise plan of action to ensure that each child regularly attends school and completes at least eight years of schooling. 9. This was followed by Universalisation of Elementary Education (UEE) scheme launched in , aimed at enrolment of all children in the age group of 6 to 14 years and for bridging gender and social gaps in enrolment. Elementary education refers to classes I to VIII, with classes I to V comprising primary education and classes VI to VIII comprising upper primary education. UEE is guided by five parameters, namely universal access, universal enrolment, universal retention, universal achievement and equity. The scheme provides for a 5

6 primary school within 1 km of habitation and an upper primary school for every two primary schools. The scheme provides for construction of new schools, additional classrooms, drinking water facilities and free textbooks. Since the launch of this scheme, 36.8 million children have joined the education system. Accordingly, GERs have increased during the period to from 96.3% to 111.4% in respect of primary level (age 6 to 11 years), from 60.2% to 73.8% in respect of upper primary level (age 11 to 14 years) and from 82.4% to 97.1% in respect of elementary level taken together (age 6 to 14 years) (Annex 4). Accordingly, there has been a significant deduction in the number of out-of-school children in the age group of 6-14 years from 31% in 2001 to 3% in However, social and gender disparities continue to be an issue to be tackled with more sustained and concerted efforts at implementation of UEE. 10. In order to achieve the five parameters of universal access, universal enrolment, universal retention, universal achievement and equity in respect of UEE, the Government of India has, in August 2009, enacted the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 which seeks to provide free and compulsory elementary education to every child in the six to fourteen age group. The Act lays down the norms and standards relating, inter alia, to pupil-teacher ratio, provision of buildings and infrastructure, and number of school working days as well as teacher working days. The Rules for implementation of the Act are under finalization. However, the States have been advised to take advance action for ensuring implementation of the Act with effect from With a view to dealing with social, economic and other disparities in provision of elementary education, a scheme has been launched in the current year for disabled children to enable students with disabilities, after completing 8 years of elementary schooling, to pursue 4 years of secondary schooling (i.e. from classes IX to XII), in an inclusive and enabling environment. 12. A separate scheme has also been launched for provision of nutritional support to children in primary classes (i.e. classes I to V) under which the 6

7 Government provides financial assistance for provision of a mid-day-meal (MDM) to all children. The scheme was initially introduced in limited areas in 1995 and has gradually been extended to other areas. Finally, in April 2008, it was extended up till upper primary schools (i.e. classes VI to VIII) all over the country. It covers all children studying in government and government-aided schools as well as nonformal education centres run by the government. The objective of this scheme is to encourage children from lower income groups to attend school more regularly and help them to concentrate on classroom activities. The scheme also provides for financial assistance for construction of kitchen premises and store-rooms in order to ensure uninterrupted supplies and quality of cooked food. Special attention is paid to ensure balanced and nutritious diet through appropriate food norms. The number of children covered under the programme has risen from million in to million in During , the target for coverage of children is million. 13. A National Programme for Education of Girls at Primary Level (NPEGEL) was launched in July 2003 which provides additional support for enhancing girls education, over and above other general schemes, and places focus on gender sensitization of teachers and development of gender sensitive material. The scheme is implemented in educationally backward areas to ensure improvement in learning levels. Emphasis is placed on provision of training to teachers, building of requisite infrastructure including school building, laboratories, drinking water as well as equipment and consumable goods. Implementation of these schemes is monitored through a comprehensive monitoring mechanism at national and state level, which also includes NGOs. Secondary Education: 14. For increasing the outreach of secondary education (i.e. classes IX to XII), a new scheme was launched in 2009 for enhancing access to secondary education as well as improving its quality. The scheme, inter alia, provides for setting up new secondary schools and strengthening existing ones, and making provision for 7

8 laboratories and libraries. The target is to achieve additional enrolment of more than 3.2 million students by through strengthening of about 44,000 secondary schools and opening about 11,000 new schools. The scheme includes provision for improvement in both quality and equity aspects. Thus, the scheme gives preference to areas with concentration of economically and socially disadvantaged groups. A separate scheme is also being implemented from the current year for setting up 6000 model schools in the country for providing quality education to talented children living in rural areas with the schools being set up as benchmarks of excellence. The focus in this scheme is on trying out innovative curriculum and pedagogy. 15. For addressing the gender discrepancies in secondary education by promoting and encouraging education of girls in classes IX to XII, a new scheme has been implemented from the current year for setting up girl s hostels with 100 seats in about 3500 educationally backward areas. The objective is to retain girl child in secondary school so that girl students are not denied the opportunity to continue their studies due to distance to school, parents financial affordability and other social factors. A scheme of National Means-cum-Merit Scholarship has also been launched to award 0.1 million scholarships each year. For girls, there is also an incentive scheme under which a fixed sum of money is deposited in a bank in the name of the girl child, who will be entitled to withdraw it along with interest thereon, on reaching 18 years of age. The incentive is admissible to girls who have passed class VIII and are enrolling in class IX in government and government-aided schools. Higher and Technical Education: 16. The higher education system in India nearly has 480 university level institutions and over 20,000 colleges, both publicly and privately funded, catering to 12.5 million students. India currently has a demographic advantage as about 70% of the population is below the age of 35 years. To realize the advantage, it is necessary to expand opportunities for the youth on a massive scale by using 8

9 education as the foundation for building the potential of the youth. The requirement is to achieve expansion, inclusion and rapid improvement in quality of higher and technical education system by enhancing public spending, encouraging private initiatives and initiating major institutional and policy reforms by the Government. The long term goal included in the Government s plan for is to ensure that good quality higher education is accessible to all, irrespective of their paying capacity. India s gross enrolment ratio (GER) in higher education of around 12.40% in 2007 is lower than the world average of 23.2% as well as lower than the average of 22% for Asian countries. The Government s aim is to increase the GER to 25% by end of and 30% by For this purpose, enrolments in universities and colleges need to be raised at an annual rate of 8.9% to reach 21 million by For achieving inclusiveness in higher education, 35 universities have been created particularly for socially excluded groups and model colleges are proposed to be set up in educationally backward districts. The Government proposes to establish 14 innovation universities meeting world standards, with the objective of making India a global knowledge hub and setting benchmarks for excellence for other universities at the Central and the State Government level. Emphasis is proposed to be placed on maintaining quality and excellence of research, dealing with practical problems through an inter-disciplinary approach, promoting desired levels of autonomy along with accountability, ensuring requisite availability of infrastructure and attracting best teaching professionals. 18. Government has taken special initiatives to enhance access and equity in higher education through distance learning mode, particularly to persons from disadvantaged groups and those living in remote areas. The Indira Gandhi National Open University determines standards for open learning and distance education, and provides innovative and need-based general and continuing education through an integrated strategy consisting of print material, audio-video programmes, teleconferencing and personal counseling. The University conducts 9

10 a variety of programmes ranging from purely academic to technical, professional and vocational courses, leading to award of certificates, diplomas and degrees. 19. The Government of India has already initiated several reforms in the higher education sector which encompass not only governance reforms in the institutions but also in the regulatory structures of the higher education system. Government plans to shift the philosophy underlying regulation of this sector from inspection based approvals to a verification and certification method. A mandatory accredition system is also proposed to be established to be undertaken by independent agencies working under the oversight of an accredition regulator to ensure objectivity and transparency in accredition processes, which will reflect the worldwide trend of ensuring quality assurance and certification of institutions and programmes of study. It is also proposed to consider a legislation to facilitate the entry of foreign educational providers and institutions of international repute, while others would be subjected to suitable scrutiny. Already, Government of India permits 100% FDI in the higher education sector. 20. For focused attention in technical areas such as engineering, town planning, management and applied arts, Government has provided for an elaborate system of technical institutions spread all over the country. Currently, there are a total of 65 such institutions which include 15 Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), 20 National Institutes of Technology (NITs), 7 Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) and 6 Institutes of Science, Education and Research. The number is proposed to be extended further with active support of State Governments who have already been advised to identify locations suitable for higher level teaching. A Technical Education Quality Improvement Programme has been implemented with the assistance of World Bank, to support excellence and transformation in technical education. Phase II of the Programme is under consideration. 10

11 Vocational education and skill development: 21. Apart from formal school and higher education, development of vocational skills is an integral part of HRD. Early estimates were that about 25% of students at secondary stage would go for the vocational streams. However, recent data shows that only 5% of the population of age group has acquired skills under vocational education. Therefore, the Government of India has announced a National Skill Development Mission which comprises of a comprehensive skill development programme covering the entire country with a target to achieve 500 million skilled persons by the year A 3-tier institutional structure has been set up with a National Council headed by the Prime Minister of India, a Coordination Board at the Ministry level and an independent non-profit Development Corporation to promote private sector action for skill development. It will address five core areas of skill development, namely, curriculum revision on a continuous basis, vocational education, apprenticeship training, accredition and certification system and skill-gap mapping. Greater emphasis is to be placed on the services sector and, therefore, on soft skills. Focus would be to develop generic and multiple skills so that persons may respond to changes in technology and market demands. Sector-specific skill development programmes are being drawn up under the overall Mission. For example, in the leather and footwear sector, a placement linked skill development programme has been announced by the Government recently which is aimed at imparting basic skills on shop floor operations to unemployed youth and subsequently helping them to find gainful employment in associated industries. 22. As part of the National Skill Development Mission, 1000 new polytechnics are proposed to be set up in the Government as well as private sector. Polytechnics are educational institutions which offer three-year general diploma courses in conventional subjects such as civil, electrical and mechanical engineering. In order to reduce the imbalance between engineering education and that in polytechnics, it has been decided to permit a second shift of polytechnic in 11

12 an existing engineering institution. In order to increase the effectiveness of polytechnics, certain crucial issues need consideration. These include the need to address static curricula, poor industry interface, lack of flexibility to respond to changing needs and inadequate funding. The matter needs urgent attention as diploma courses are gradually losing the skill component, which needs to be restored. 23. Similarly, a special programme has been formulated to provide two-years training in specific trades to unemployed youth on an honorarium basis, after which such youth can be assisted in taking up self-employment or getting absorbed in respective industries. It is also proposed to channelize the potential of untrained youth into productive public services such as cleaning of the rivers, by imparting some minimal basic skill sets. Adult Education: 24. In terms of the NPE, 1986, a National Literacy Mission was set up in May, 1988 to achieve a threshold level of literacy of 75% by The Mission sought to achieve this goal by imparting functional literacy to neo-literates in the age group of 15 to 35 years which is in the productive and reproductive period of life. The dominant strategies of the Mission were Total Literacy Campaigns (TLCs) and Post Literacy Programmes (PLPs). TLCs were area-specific, time-bound, volunteer-based, cost-effective and outcome-oriented programmes implemented by District-level Councils. The PLPs were open to neo-literates in the age group of 9 to 35 years who have completed the basic course, and also covered dropouts from primary schools and pass outs from non-formal education programmes. The PLPs aimed at retention and consolidation of literacy skills through guided learning and to help the neo-literates to continue learning through self-directed processes. Emphasis was also placed on integration of skill development programmes with PLPs. The Mission also encompassed efforts at galvanizing activities towards national integration, conservation of the environment, and preservation and protection of indigenous knowledge and traditions. The Mission helped to reduce 12

13 illiteracy from 52.21% in 1991 to 64.8% in 2001, reducing the total number of nonliterates from 328 million in 1991 to 304 million in The literacy rates for women increased faster than for men. The credible performance of the Mission received the UNESCO Noma Literacy Prize for Despite reduction in overall illiteracy, gender and regional disparities in literacy continued to persist. On International Literacy Day, i.e. 8 th September 2009, the Government of India announced a modified Literacy Mission with enhanced focus on female literacy. The Mission will provide comprehensive opportunities of adult education, primarily to women, with focus on economically and socially disadvantaged groups in rural areas. It aims to cover 70 million adults in all States of the country, of which 60 million will be women. By end December 2009, the Mission had already been rolled out in 19 of the 26 States. By 2012, all areas having female literacy below 50% will be covered. Basic literacy, post literacy and continuing education are intended to form a continuum rather than sequential segments. Civil society groups, members of the community and other stakeholders will be an integral part of the programme. It is interesting to note that with the objective of putting in place a mechanism to optimize available resources, a web-based accounting system has been devised to facilitate just in time release of funds. Also, a robust monitoring and evaluation system has been introduced to infuse transparency, accountability and organizational efficiency in implementation of the Mission. Special efforts are required to ensure involvement of state and local governments, increase motivation and training of voluntary teachers and strong management and supervision arrangements for implementation of the Mission. Strengthening Infrastructure: 26. A National Mission on Education through Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has been proposed for higher education institutions aimed at building connectivity and knowledge network among institutions, spreading digital literacy for teacher empowerment and drawing up standards of e-contents 13

14 matching world quality. This is expected to be a major intervention in enhancing the GER in higher education by 5 percentage points by Similarly, in respect of school education, a scheme was launched in December 2004 aimed at providing ICT in schools to enable students to build their ICT skills and bridge digital divide among students of various socio-economic and other geographical barriers. The scheme has been successful in providing exposure and opportunities to students in the use of computer technology for greater and speedier dissemination of information. 27. Also arising from the NPE, 1986, a scheme is in operation for imparting teacher education through creation of a sound institutional infrastructure for preservice and in-service training of elementary and secondary school teachers and provision of academic research support to such schools. This is sought to be achieved through setting up of education and training institutes at district level (districts are administrative divisions under each State). A National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) has already been set up to ensure planned and coordinated development of teacher education in the country. Mobilization of Resources: 28. Mobilization of requisite funds is another challenge that Government of India is faced with. The magnitude of the current education sector is evident from the variety of educational institutions that already exist in the country. Details of recognized formal educational institutions in different categories in India during are at Annex 5. For upgrading the existing network of institutions further and also to expand it by creating new infrastructure through greenfield projects, the financial requirements are large. Keeping this fact in view, for the coming year , the Government of India has already increased the financial allocation for school education by 15.8% over the allocation in the previous year. However, to meet the gap in available resources, the Government of India is seeking active support of the private sector in this endeavor. Thus, in line with the practice followed in developed and emerging market economies, the Government of India 14

15 is also taking conscious policy decisions to progressively involve the private sector in meeting the challenges and the requirements of the HRD sector, particularly in the area of higher education. In this direction, a tailor-made Public-Private Partnership (PPP) mode for the education sector is being explored for facilitating private-sector investment in the Indian higher education system, without diluting the regulatory oversight of the Government. Private sector participation in social sectors, such as, health and education, sometimes referred to as Public-Social Private Partnership (PSPP), could be one of the possible alternatives for supplementing the ongoing efforts of the Government of India. However, in order to put in place such mechanisms, crucial issues such as risks and returns associated with such high cost projects need to be suitably addressed to ensure that there are enough takers for such PSPP projects in the market on a selfsustainable basis. As a part of innovative ideas, the possibilities of allowing the private sector to tap the capital market for raising resources are also being considered. 29. Apart from initiatives taken by the Government, development of human resources in the private corporate sector also has a direct bearing on growth prospects of a nation. India has been able to tide-over the adverse impact of the global financial recession on its domestic economy, faster than several other countries (Annex 6). However, in the private sector, certain companies still face volatility and uncertainty which manifest in uncertain scenarios in the market, reduced capital availability and increased revenue risks. In these circumstances, a key challenge for the corporate sector is to take suitable initiatives in respect of HRD to reduce productivity losses due to flight of top talent and disengagement/disinterest of employees in the company. It is important to drive up their commitment towards the objectives of the company by appropriate methods mainly pertaining to HRD. 15

16 International Cooperation: 30. Special emphasis is laid on international cooperation in the education sector, particularly in formulation, implementation and monitoring of Educational Exchange Programmes with various countries to give focused attention to bilateral collaboration. 31. Japan has been extending bilateral loan and grant assistance to India since Since , India has become the largest recipient of Japanese ODA loan. The ODA loan commitment from Japan in financial year 2008 amounting to JPY billion was the highest ever ODA loan commitment from Japan to India. This was 4.84% increase from previous year s ODA commitment which was JPY billion. The ODA loan commitment from Japan for first batch of financial year 2009 JICA ODA loan package is JPY billion, and for the second batch, JICA has already appraised four projects. During , the ODA loan disbursement to India reached JPY billion which was 29.07% more than the previous year s disbursement. In , till , ODA loan disbursement to India is JPY billion. As on 12 th February, 2010, 56 projects are under implementation with Japanese loan assistance, which are in the sectors of Power, Environment & Forests, Urban Transportation, Urban Water Supply and Sanitation, Rural Drinking Water Supply, Tourism, Irrigation, Rural Development, Shipping and in Financial Services. Sector-wise distribution of JICA assisted ongoing projects is given in the Annex 7 (Table 1). Cumulative commitment of Japanese ODA loan to India has reached JPY billion on commitment basis till October, The details of commitments and disbursements of ODA loan from Japan are at Annex 7 (Table 2). 32. Discussions are on between India and Japan for ODA loan for civil works and equipments for establishing an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) at Hyderabad in the State of Andhra Pradesh. This IIT is one of the eight new IITs already approved by the Government of India for being set up in different parts of the country. The IIT at Hyderabad has already started functioning from the academic 16

17 year from temporary premises. 10 fellowships have been awarded by Tokyo University to outstanding undergraduate students to further their academic activities. Students have also visited Japan to work in advanced research laboratories. Scholarships are also available for Indian students in a large range of areas such as biotechnology, environmental science, architecture and laser technology. A research project on national disaster management and mitigation has also been agreed to on both sides. Further, under the Indo-Japan Technical Cooperation Programme, Japanese experts are deployed as Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers (JOVC) for training and enhancement of knowledge and skills of Indian nationals in designated fields. Already, language support and training is being received by Japanese experts in several Universities in India. Thus, there are ample opportunities for increasing international cooperation in the field of HRD further. Concluding Remarks: 33. Universal elementary education was a desirable goal included in the Directive Principles of State Policy in India s Constitution. The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 now enacted by the Government of India is a quantum leap in the approach towards a knowledge economy in India, as it signifies a shift from being a non-binding directive principle to granting a fundamental right to every child in India. However, sustained action is required to ensure provision of quality secondary education, achieve full adult education and considerably expand opportunities for vocational education. Emphasis is also to be placed on continuous and rigorous teacher education for ensuring improved and strengthened teaching capabilities. More intensive efforts are also required to promote distance education using ICT, particularly to cover remote areas and disadvantaged sections of the population. Inclusive education and elimination of gender and other social and regional disparities in the access to education and employment opportunities is necessary, through inter alia, adequate provisions for skill development. At the same time, institutions of higher learning need to be granted autonomy while also being subjected to rigorous quality standards at par 17

18 with international norms. Regulatory systems should ensure that management of education is efficient, effective, sensitive, responsive and performance oriented, giving due regard to preservation and protection of indigenous knowledge, learning processes and culture. Apart from quality aspects, complementary efforts are required for upscaling the existing facilities. The private sector should more actively participate in this process in order to supplement the efforts and resources of the Government, so as to facilitate a faster, balanced and wholesome development of human resources. The corporate sector too needs to lay adequate emphasis on HRD initiatives to ensure employee engagement and commitment to their company s growth prospects and also to match their required skills sets with actual learning. 34. Higher levels of HRD will positively impact the delivery and access of the development programmes being implemented by the Central and State Governments in India for providing greater employment opportunities and increased incomes in the hands of the masses. Literacy, education and skill development, which together help to raise the level of human resource development, are important for continued progress of a nation. Therefore, endeavours towards further improvement in HRD must continue with full vigour and commitment by all stakeholders including international partners. This calls for increased bilateral and multi-lateral cooperation in order to fully exploit the potentials of human resource development. 35. The significance of human resource development for achieving the goals of higher growth and development in a country is very aptly summed by Rabindranath Tagore, the Nobel Laureate, in the following extracts: Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high Where knowledge is free Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way Into ever-widening thought and action Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake ******* 18

19 Annex 6 Source : World Economic Outlook, Update October

20 Annex 7 Table 1 : Sector wise distribution of JICA assisted ongoing projects S. No. Name of Sector No of projects JICA loan amount (Yen Million) % of total loan 1 Environment and Forests Environment / Training Power Water Supply Urban Transport/Urban Roads Tourism Shipping Irrigation Rural Development Financial Services Total Source: Government of India, Ministry of Finance Table 2 : Commitments and Disbursements of ODA loan from Japan for last five years (in Yen Billion) Year Commitment Disbursement (till ) (upto first batch) Source: Government of India, Ministry of Finance

21 References: i. UNDP (2008) Human Development Indices: A Statistical Update ii. UNDP (2009), Human Development Report iii. Government of India (2009), Selected Educational Statistics , Ministry of Human Resource Development, Department of Higher Education, New Delhi. iv. Government of India (2009), Statistics of School Education , Ministry of Human Resource Development, Bureau of Planning, Monitoring and Statistics, New Delhi. v. Government of India (2009), Annual Report , Ministry of Human Resource Development, Department of Higher Education, New Delhi. vi. Government of India (2010), Economic Survey , Ministry of Finance, New Delhi. vii. Government of India (2010), Budget , Ministry of Finance, New Delhi. viii. Government of India (2008), Higher Education in India Issues Related to Expansion, Inclusiveness, Quality and Finance, University Grants Commission, New Delhi. ix. Government of India, Eleventh Five Year Plan , Planning Commission, New Delhi. x. Government of India (2009), Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Department of School Education and Literacy, New Delhi. xi. Government of India, Placement Linked Skill Development Programme under HRD Mission, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Footwear Design and Development Institute, New Delhi. xii. Rajput, J. S., Vision 2020 Education, National Council of Educational Research and Training, New Delhi. ***** 21