Narendra Modi’s ultimate test—educating 265m pupils

Narendra Modi’s ultimate test—educating 265m pupils CLOSING THE factory in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh was not a decision he took lightly, says the boss of a manufacturer based in Mumbai, India’s business capital. Yet the local workforce’s lack of skills and discipline meant it made sense to produce in the south and west. “We offer training at all our production sites, but bringing people to the required level simply wasn’t worth our time.” The tale illustrates one of India’s biggest problems. Its education system is failing it. At some 1.4bn, it has more people than China, and its economy is growing fast. It needs to make hundreds of millions of its young people employable, particularly in the poorer, more populous northern states. Otherwise it could waste much of its growth potential and court instability as undereducated, underemployed youngsters lose hope.