By R.N.Bhaskar

Most Indians love gloating over the fact that this country has a natural advantage over China – that they have English as the language in which its laws and even its Constitution is written. This, they point out, was not only because the British ruled India, but also because a majority of 'intelligentsia' in India speak this language. And since English is the global language of business -- or so the argument goes – Indians have a greater advantage over the Chinese in the world of business.

They believe that since English is virtually their second language, or third at worst, they stand a better chance when it comes to globalisation. Or when it comes to Business Process Outsourcing. That, they argue, quite convincingly, is why India has a natural advantage when it comes to call centers, data processing, even software.

Of course, they conveniently ignore other indicators which appear to indicate that China is likely to continue to have a very great edge over India. For instance, they choose to ignore the fact that China's foreign exchange reserves are several times larger than those that India has. When this is pointed out to them they try to explain it away by by saying that this could be because ethnic Chinese love pumping money back to their native land. And that, they maintain, is because the Chinese cannot assimilate with local populations as easily as Indians can. The result is that China gets more forex inflows. But -- and do mark the cheek -- when it comes to business, and that too without resorting to the dumping practices that China apparently adopts by cross subsidizing some industries with others – India has many advantages.

That may be so, but then what about GDP growth rates? But then, comes the pat answer, isn’t that to be expected in a totalitarian state – GDP rates are always high in the initial stages, but peter away when private enterprise finds that there are no returns in such a state. Look at Russia, they add. Or Taiwan. Or even Singapore, though this state, they grudgingly admit, has been inching towards a more transparent democracy.

But then, the more one thinks about it, the more does one begin to believe that the China edge cannot be wished away. Not even where the English advantage is concerned.

McKinsey's report

Take a look at what a confidential report “A Change Programme for Technology Education in India” of McKinsey and Co has to say.
The report points out that even though India claims to have one of the largest pools of technical manpower, the truth is that it is just not enough – not just the quality, even the bare numbers. Consider for instance the fact that India requires almost 500,000 additional IT professionals over the next five years. From a total demand for 340,000 IT professionals, India is likely to need over 800,000 such people by 2006. Compare this number against the total numbers that India can produce every year – and the problem will become quite evident.

Source: McKinsey and Co

Take scenario two. India’s IITs, RECs and other premier Category II institutions currently require 9,000 additional teachers, while the current availability is just between 4,000 and 4,500. This means that even if India were to open new centres of learning, it may not have the faculty to man them. And having more students in a brick and mortar classroom may not be the right answer.

The situation confronting India’s IITs is even more serious. Take the case of IIT, Delhi. Of the 371 members of its faculty, the most experienced 30% of them are to retire in seven years time. That could make the shortage of teachers even more acute. This is why distance learning, using multicasting techniques with a high degree of interactivity, may be the only solution.

China imports teachers
Now compare this with what China is doing. In the past three years, it has begun importing the best faculty in the world to augment its current supply for technical and IT staff. For instance, in order to teach its teeming millions the English language – be it for commerce or plain tourism – it imported as many as 20,000 English teachers during the last two years. Obviously, these teachers would not have come to China had they not been paid well. Then compare this with what we pay our teachers, and the situation does look a bit frightening.

Unless, India can ……. and this is the only choice India has …….. work out ways to train its millions who have paper certificates but without the requisite skills. In fact, that is precisely why India has often been described as a country which does not suffer from the problem of unemployment as much as from that of unemployability. This will require:
Using the few teachers India has, picking up the best of them, and getting them to train hundreds across the country through a virtual classroom.
Concentrating on certification processes that virtually guarantees the quality of skills the students possess.
Offer students the chance to improve their skills, and get certificates for higher skill levels without having to do the course all over again.
Use techniques that allow students to view their teachers and interact with them even if they are hundreds of miles away.
Get certification partners that are recognized by most people and which stand for quality and reliability.

If India does not offer this, it could end up slipping behind China, losing the very advantages that made it the centre of learning so many centuries ago. And that would be a shame, because India would lose the biggest strength it has – namely the number of people who reside within its territorial boundaries.

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