Talented India scores poor on education: Jim O'Neill

[OhioChick]

2 May, 2008, 1530 hrs IST


India trails far behind the other BRIC countries on, hold your breath, its track record on education; compared to Russia, China, and Brazil. India's growth environment score for education hovers just above 4, on par with global average for developing countries, and way below the 8, 7 and 6 marks of Russia, Brazil and China. And it's not China, but Russia and Brazil which have made the most significant gains in 2007. It might seem counter intuitive, but this is research from the man who invented counter-intuitive.

Jim O'Neill is best known as the father of the BRIC report, the one that changed the face of globalisation. Managing director and head of global economic research at Goldman Sachs, Mr O'Neill warns that while the perception is that India and China have all this talent, it is in fact Russia and China which have the best growth environment scores and track record on education. Mr O' Neill recalls that in the early days, when Goldman came up with the report, he was usually met with surprised shock and a you've-got-to-be-kidding attitude. These days, he's considered some kind of messiah about the fate of the developing countries. Speaking to ET, here's his take on a variety of issues.

"Tinkering with import and export policies, and price controls, I'm convinced those are sticking plaster solutions. I believe that it's high time India sets up a mechanism for a long term inflation target, and the RBI is given the responsibility for it, as exists in many other countries. I'm puzzled as to why this mandate has not been given to the Central Bank," he said. And despite the global panic, he's not really concerned about rising food prices; "I'm not so worried about it as many other people; there have been a lot of speculative investments in food, and market prices will adjust," he says.

But here's a warning note from the man: while everyone now thinks that the BRIC report projections 'are a done deal' there are lots of things of great importance to make this happen. "Whenever I ask which Bric country has the best education credentials, everyone says India. It's actually Russia," said Mr O'Neill. Besides education, India needs to improve it's overall growth environment track record - GES scores is what Goldman Sachs uses to estimate the general environment to facilitate growth, and in 2007, India ranks at 110 with 4.6 in 2007, behind Russia (5.5) China (5.5) and Brazil (5.3).

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Talented_India_scores_poor_on_education_Jim_ONeill/articleshow/3004598.cms