Youth Development Academy

It is estimated that 66% of India’s population is under 35 years of age.  A young India offers many opportunities for growth and progress.

Here is a collection of facts, and videos on the subject of India’s Youth Dividend.

Nandan Nilenkani on the Youth Dividend

Debate – Youth Dividend or Nightmare

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Knowledge @ Wharton – Report on the Youth Dividend and efforts that are needed to reap the demographic dividend.

Knowledge @ Wharton – Bridging the Talent Gap in India’s ‘Demographic Dividend’

While the conference and this report has many interesting initiatives reported, some key ones are listed below:-

1. “I’ve had sleepless nights; the task is daunting,”  Kapil Sibal said at the USIBC conference, referring to the infrastructure required to educate and train India’s workforce of tomorrow. “It’s not just India’s problem; it is a global issue.”
2. Sibal’s goal is to get at least 30% of India’s 240 million schoolchildren into higher education over the next decade, up from the 12.4% currently.
3. India currently has 480 universities and 22,000 colleges. In the next 10 years, it will need 700 new universities and 35,000 new colleges, according to Sibal. “I cannot do it on my own. No state can do it on its own.”
4. Quotable quote from John Wood (founder of Room to Read, a San Francisco-based organization that promotes literacy and reading among children in developing countries.) -  “No society worked itself out of poverty relying on foreign aid; education is the only proven long-term solution.”
5. On deeper collaboration between United States and India – “an imperative … no, it is an emergency,” according to Ron Somers, president of the USIBC
6. Walter F. Doran, president of Raytheon Asia said his company could extend to India its program called “MathMovesU” that encourages young students to get involved in engineering, science and mathematics.