Government Initiatives in Education

The government of India has recognized the link between the creation of wealth in IT clusters and certain "enabling" characteristics that encourage this wealth creation. In order to create as conducive an environment for attracting IT investments as possible, the government is actively putting these "enabling factors" in place. One of the most critical of these is the development of India's educational institutes, particularly those specializing in the expertise of technology and engineering.

Indian Educational Systems

The Indian educational curriculum is characteristically rigorous ” students are aware early on of the competitive prerequisites for receiving a quality education, and strive to enter the most prestigious institutes and streams of emphasis such as mathematics and science. There is great social value derived from being a leading student from a top science or technology-based institute.

With the recent success of Indians in the domestic and international IT industry, the new trend in education ” supported firmly by parents ” is in the fields of engineering and computer sciences. As a result, the current generation of students in India graduating from both government and private universities are prepared early for their participation in this industry.

India is estimated to have over 4 million technical workers graduating from more than 1,832 educational institutions and polytechnics that train over 67,785 computer software professionals every year. ^[17] Graduates from outstanding institutes such as the IITs, the IISc, the recently established IIITs, and Regional Engineering Colleges (RECs) are in high demand for an industry seeking disciplined and highly skilled talent with current technical expertise. These educational facilities combine to create the second-largest English-speaking technical work force in the world. In addition, an annual output of over 200,000 engineering graduates combined from public and private colleges, and specialized technical and computer diploma courses, along with about 40,000 management graduates from institutes like the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) create a quality and quantity advantage in human resource that gives India a major competitive edge in the IT sector. Indeed, India is the "motherlode" for knowledge-skilled human resources in the worldwide quest for the treasures derived from intellectual capital.

In India's vision of developing a large cadre of knowledge workers from its educational institutes, the Indian government has thus demonstrated its greatest achievement in support of making regional wealth in the Innovation Economy. The government has also further committed to stepping up both the number and quality of computer and technical training facilities in the country in order to capitalize on this extraordinary human resource, with goals of tripling or at least doubling the number of engineering students that emerge from India.