Education and the Diasporic Community
imes have changed. And, India too is changing at a meteoric pace in every area of the nation’s endeavor. So, India’s economy is also booming. With bagsful of dollars and eyes glued on fast emerging vast opportunities to spin quick buck, foreigners are jetting to India’s least developed, underdeveloped or developing cities and small towns in West Bengal, Orissa, Jharkhand, and even to far flung areas in progressive states such as Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Haryana, Gujarat, Maharashtra to set up variety of M. R. DUA new ventures, including indus-
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trial plants and manufacturing units. While there are investment opportunities galore in trade and industry— manufacturing, oil exploration, mining, automobiles, retail consumer goods outlets and education, particularly higher education, are not far behind. The Government of India has discovered, according to the dynamic Union Minister for Human Resource Development, Mr. Kapil Sibal, that the best and probably the most crucial measure in this direction would be to immediately “invest in institutions of higher education which cater to excellence.” He firmly believes and is profusely convinced that “quality learning which caters to excellence to our young…in higher education will transform India into a knowledge power.” Though India boasts of having the third largest enrolments in higher education globally speaking, after China and the USA, there’re still vast areas to be covered in this regard. For, the number of students entering colleges and universities after they graduate from schools is simply abysmal—mere around 12 per cent against about 24 per cent world average. In fact, this figure in developed countries of
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NRIs should take a huge leap by investing in ideating and establishing innovative projects, hence making India an indelible knowledge powerhouse, says Prof. M R Dua
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