Role of education in economic development

Role of education in economic development

Education plays an important role in economic development.

  • Education increases the accessibility of people to modern and scientific ideas.
  • It increases efficiency and the ability of people to absorb new technology.
  • It creates awareness of available opportunities and the mobility of labor.
  • It helps people to gain knowledge, skills and attitude which would enable them to understand changes in society and scientific advancements.
  • Investment in education is one of the main sources of human capital which facilitates inventions and innovations.
  • Available educated labor force facilitates the adaptation of advanced technology in a country.

Steps to Achieve Growth in Education in India

  • Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti was launched in 1987–88 for the establishment of residential schools to provide advanced quality education to children in rural areas.
  • Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan is a scheme that aims to provide elementary education to all children between the ages of 6 to 14 years. It also organizes school camps to increase the enrolment in elementary education and practices the mid-day meal scheme to encourage attendance and retention of children with improved nutritional status.
  • Kendriya Vidyalayas were set up by the Central Government in 1965 to provide educational facilities to the children of transferable Central Government employees. The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) functions as an apex institution to provide academic improvement of school education.
  • Indira Gandhi National Open University was established in 1985 to facilitate educational opportunities for school dropouts, housewives, employed and unemployed people. The University Grants Commission (UGC) was set up in 1956 to determine the standards in higher education.

Education is regulated by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) and the University Grants Commission (UGC). Six campuses of the Indian Institute of Technology are located at Mumbai, Delhi, Kanpur, Kharagpur, Chennai and, Guwahati.

Bottlenecks in the Education System

The quality of education in India is very poor. The educational policies of 1966 and 1986 emphasized educational expansion and improvement in all sectors. Also, these policies suggested that disparity in access to education be eliminated. However, the success in this regard is limited.

To achieve a noticeable rate of growth in the educational sector, our government has been promising to spend 6% of GDP annually for the last four decades. However, the current level of educational expenditure is not more than 3.8% of the GDP. There are regional and gender inequalities in the investment of educational expenditure. It also noticed that the government has not been able to achieve the objective of providing free and compulsory education to all children in the age group of 6 to 14 years.


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Role of education in economic development


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