India Education Trends

In recent years students with the highest scores choose for increasingly popular studies such as health, fashion, communications or hotel management. Experts expect a rapidly increasing demand in these sectors for highly skilled employers. To this is immediately responded by young people which currently follow secondary or higher education streams for these specific Indian emerging markets. A recent study by Price Waterhouse Coopers estimated that the media and entertainment sector will grow over the next five years by nearly 20 percent, and in 2010 an amount of 2 billion will be reached. The fashion industry, design and production technology for smart textiles will increase in fivefold the next five or ten years in size. Health care shows a growth of 13 percent per year. New education developments in India such as medical tourism, telemedicine, and the rapid emergence of exclusive clinics and hospitals create a large number of new and particularly well-paid jobs. There is a mentality change. In the eighties many took additional education to increase salary opportunities and status. The current generation is more of taking risk. They have no problem with job hopping, even on the borders of their own disciplines. This change also has changed the perception of the management company.

Threats to the Succes of Indian Education

The strong Indian market circumstances and the huge salary differences between working in government, in business or a research center makes it difficult for young students to get interested in science. Government institutes are still setting the tone. The large differences in salary make working for a higher education institute not really attractive, and the shortages for skilled teachers is still growing

rapidly. Recently, the Business Line newspaper reported that in 2010 a deficit of around 135 thousand technique teachers may be expected. Moreover, the lack of scientific quality, most institutions (especially private) a scientific job is little challenging. Businesses and private institutions offer salaries which, even for someone who sees teaching as a vocation, can almost not be refused. For example private hospitals are charging fees that are 50 times higher than those in public hospitals. A university professor told that his graduate students get offers from the private sector which are sometimes ten times higher than his own salary, and then ask him what to do. This is a development which, as in many western countries, makes it increasingly difficult to make young people interested in a scientific career. International position In national surveys on the quality of science in India appear the INIs consistently in the top of the university rankings. Back to Indian standards they are in the absolute top. The Times Higher Education Supplement, however, placed the IITs in the past at number 50 on the World University Rankings, and place 36 as measured by overall scientific position. If only the position in the field of technology is taken into account they are in third place. Not a bad score. In the competitive Shanghai Jiao Tong Universitys Academic Ranking of World Universities only IIT Kharagpur appears in the top 500 (!). The fact that relatively few Indian universities are publishing internationally recognized research papers, few are cited, and only a very limited amount have social science faculties, declares together with small numbers of international students the modest positions in international university ranking lists. The pressure from the Indian government for more and better research is therefore noticeably

increasing. The support from Indian Government are linked to success, whereas others measured by the international rating.