India needs to reshape its education landscape to meet IT talent needs

According to latest industry data, the IT industry has added a total 450,000 new personnel during the current fiscal, the highest in a single year so far. Of this, 44% for women which is unusually high for industry as a whole. It is now employs 1.8 million women, becoming the largest private sector employer of women. The industry is thus going against the prevailing trend of a decline of women in the workforce

Even as a jobs crisis seems to be engulfing the country, there is one sector of the economy where there is a boom in employment opportunities. And that is the electronics and information technology sectors, especially new technology areas where highly skilled personnel are much in demand. The issue of high attrition levels and the need for upgrading skills has been a concern for many years in this industry. It is no longer good enough to be a software engineer, there is a need for more specialized training to meet the demands of high technology in areas like AI (artificial intelligence), IoT (internet of things), cyber security and semiconductors.

The requirements have risen more rapidly than ever before as the IT and electronics industries have grown exponentially during the pandemic. The entire world shifted during the last two years to working and studying at home by using online methods. This exclusive focus on online activities propelled the Big Tech giants to enormous profits over this period. This has in turn pushed growth in all segments of the Indian IT sector According to Nasscom estimates, the market size of the industry including e-commerce is now estimated at about 235 billion dollars and is likely to touch 300 to 350 dollars by 2025.

Some segments have risen faster than others over the past two years. For instance, cyber-security industry has nearly doubled in size during this period. A report by the Data Security Council of India says revenues from cyber security products and services have grown from 5.04 billion dollars to 9.85 billion dollars in 2021. The workforce in this sector has also doubled from 110,000 employees to 218,000 employees. And the demand for qualified personnel in this sector continues unabated.

The issue of attrition, however, continues in the IT industry. It is as high as 25 per cent in some areas. The Infosys chief Salil Parekh has been reassuring in a recent interview, pointing out that the company has a tremendous focus on in-house training capabilities. This has been the approach of most corporates in the IT sector who recruit fresh engineering graduates and train them internally to meet their requirements. But the fact is this can no longer be left just to the industry, as the educational ecosystem needs to evolve to meet the changing requirements.

For instance, the government's recent decision to invest heavily in semi-conductor production is going to fuel a demand for engineers to man these new facilities. Executives in semi-conductor companies are saying that informal programmes need to be created outside the standard engineering colleges. Educational institutions are also becoming aware that there is a need for non-formal courses to meet the new requirements from the electronics sector especially chip fabrication units.

In other words, there are jobs available in plenty in these specialized sectors but much will depend on the way in which training is imparted and skills are upgraded through formal and informal systems. According to latest industry data, the IT industry has added a total 450,000 new personnel during the current fiscal, the highest in a single year so far. Of this, 44 per cent for women which is unusually high for industry as a whole. It is now employs 1.8 million women, becoming the largest private sector employer of women. The industry is thus going against the prevailing trend of a decline of women in the workforce.

It is interesting that exciting employment opportunities are opening up in one segment of the economy while millions are facing joblessness at the other end of the spectrum. The fact is that the country has not been able to meet the challenge of providing the right kind of education to its young people. Even ensuring basic learning skills is a struggle in government schools all over the country. The annual state of the education reports by the NGO Pratham have repeatedly found that children are not performing at the level of their classes in terms of basic reading, writing and arithmetic.

The situation has worsened over the past two years as millions of children have not been able to participate in online education owing to lack of digital devices. The digital divide has never been so extreme as during the pandemic when those owning mobile phones, tablets or laptops were able to continue their education while the have-nots were left out. Now that schools are opening and the spotlight has finally come on the long neglected area of education, it is an opportune time for states to consider revamping this sector.

A lesson needs to be taken from the Aam Aadmi Party's radical changes in the state-run education system in Delhi. It has shown that it is possible to upgrade the deteriorating infrastructure of government schools both by investing more funds and taking a more holistic approach to education. For the first time, parents from vulnerable sections of society have been encouraged to support their childrens' studies. The change in the curriculum towards boosting entrepreneurial skills is also welcome as the focus till now has been on aiming towards salaried jobs, preferably in the government. The result has been a sharp rise in the pass percentage in school leaving examinations, bringing Delhi to second place in the country after Kerala.

If other states take the Delhi model as a template, it could be the start of a significant upgrade in primary and secondary education. It is only with this kind of foundation that young people at the bottom of the pyramid can aspire for higher education that will direct them towards high value jobs like in the IT industry.

The need for talent in the electronics and IT sectors is going to rise rapidly in the coming years. It is essential for the country's education systems to alter course adequately to meet the challenge of providing skilled personnel to these industries in the long run.