EDUCATION IS THE KEY TO PROSPERITY

EDUCATION IS THE KEY TO PROSPERITY

We are in the doorstep of a new decade. How far we have reached? Dr A P J Abdul Kalam had a strong vision for India- VISION 2020. Are we even near to it? It’s all a question mark. Falling jobs, embarrassing GDP figures, falling economy, economic slowdown…we don’t actually know where we are heading to. But let’s hope the best is yet to come. Let the New Year bring light to the country and its economy. At this point there is no point in commenting on CAA or NRC.

P C Mustafa- co-founder and CEO of ID foods Bangalore, believes that improved education is the key to prosperity. Kerala has grown to a socially and culturally independent and self-sufficient state in the last few decades. The Sen-sex figures resemble Kerala to any of the foreign countries of the world. Majority of the studies also proves this right. Kerala even leads in the Human Resource Development Index. This eventually makes us all proud.

It is education which stood as the backbone for the cultural and economic situations of the state. If Kerala is able to accomplish a growth in the educational sector beyond primary education by 2025, then we would be able to emerge as an educationally independent and strong state. To achieve this milestone it is very important to have a digitally connected education system in the state. This system needs to be made accessible to the poorer sections of the society also. Some stereotypes need to be broken in the implementation process also. Young and vibrant teachers should take up the responsibility to implement this. This opens up a new door to raise our state to new heights. More the education sector gets improved, more the quality of students passing out. This attracts more investment and job opportunity to the state.

Like any of the society which has a large mob with higher educational qualification, Kerala also has its strong base in the service sector but it is high time that we start focusing on the manufacturing sector also. New and improved technologies as well as innovations should take place in the fields such as coconut, rubber, coir, spices, handcrafts, tourism etc. in which we are already leaders. To catch up the competitive advantage we must adopt more changes into sectors like tourism. Kerala is exhibiting significant growth in construction, IT, retail etc. In order to sustain the growth, basic needs and support are to be provided by the government. If required some policy changes should also be made.

Kerala is still known as the Green State. Thus none of the developments should harm the nature. Extra care needs to be taken to protect the greenery of the state. Planned industrialization and development should also be permitted. Only then we would meet our 2025 goal. We must also be vigilant to the natural calamities which ate our heads in 2018 and 2019. Sustainable development in the rebuilding of the state would enhance the chances of improved energy management, Eco-tourism, waste management etc. Government should not only act as a policy maker but also act as a facilitator.

For everything in the future, education is the key. New and improved measures should be made in the education sector so as to convert it into a practical oriented system in which students are made ready to do a job without further grooming and training, which was said by Mahatma Gandhi much before.