What are the indicators of educational achievement in a country?
Education makes a person well equipped with skills. An educated person is more skillful and productive than an uneducated person. Consequently, the former enjoys higher income earning capacity than the latter. Therefore, the prime indicator of educational achievement is the income earning capacity of an individual. Besides this, there are other essential indicators whose scope is even wider. These are:
1. Adult Literacy Rate: This rate indicates the percentage of the literate adult population who are aged 15 years and above. The word literacy in this context is confined only to the ability to read and write. It provides a measure of the stock of literate persons within the adult population. This rate is expressed in terms of percentage. Higher the percentage of adult literacy rate, higher the educational achievement in a country. This rate is the most important indicator for a country as it indicates the percentage of the population that can participate in the economic activity of the country.
2. Youth Literacy Rate: This rate indicates the percentage of literate people between the age of 15-24 who can read and write. It denotes the stock of literate population within the youth population. This is an important indicator of educational achievement in a country. This is because of the fact that majority of a country's population is not able to continue their education till this age. Therefore, higher the youth literacy rate, higher will be the achievement of a country in terms of education.
3. Primary Education Completion Rate: This rate indicates the percentage of students completing the last year of primary school. Primary education includes students of the class group 1 to 8 in the age group of 6-14 years. It includes basic education in reading, writing and mathematics along with an elementary understanding of other subjects such as history, geography, natural sciences, social sciences, art and music. Lower primary education completion rate leads to lower youth literacy rate and, hence, lower adult literacy rate.
Trace the relationship between human capital and economic growth.
Discuss the need for promoting women’s education in India.
Discuss the following as a source of human capital formation
(i) Health infrastructure
(ii) Expenditure on migration.
What are the main problems of human capital formation in India?
‘There is a downward trend in inequality world-wide with a rise in the average education levels’. Comment.
How is human development a broader term as compared to human capital?
Education is considered to be an important input for the development of a nation. How?
What factors contribute to human capital formation?
Argue in favour of the need for different forms of government intervention in education and health sectors.
How does investment in human capital contribute to growth?
What was the focus of the economic policies pursued by the colonial government in India? What were the impacts of these policies?
What do you mean by rural development? Bring out the key issues in rural development.
Define a plan?
Who is a worker?
Explain the term ‘infrastructure’.
What is meant by environment?
Why are regional and economic groupings formed?
Why were reforms introduced in India?
Why calorie-based norm is not adequate to identify the poor?
Name some notable economists who estimated India’s per capita income during the colonial period?
Explain the statement that the green revolution enabled the government to procure sufficient food grains to build its stocks that could be used during times of shortage.
When was India’s first official census operation undertaken?
Identify six factors contributing to land degradation in India.
What is meant by ‘Food for Work’ programme?
What objectives did the British intend to achieve through their policies of infrastructure development in India?
What do you understand by devaluation of rupee?
India has abundant natural resources —substantiate the statement.
How do the following factors contribute to the environmental crisis in India? What problem do they pose for the government?
(i) Rising population
(ii) Air pollution
(iii) Water contamination
(iv) Affluent consumption standards
(v) Illiteracy
(vi) Industrialisation
(vii) Urbanisation
(viii) Reduction of forest coverage
(ix) Poaching
(x) Global warming
What were the main causes of India’s agricultural stagnation during the colonial period?
Explain the supply-demand reversal of environmental resources.