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.
‘There is a downward trend in inequality world-wide with a rise in the average education levels’. Comment.
What are the main problems of human capital formation in India?
Education is considered to be an important input for the development of a nation. How?
How is human development a broader term as compared to human capital?
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?
Meena is a housewife. Besides taking care of household chores, she works in the cloth shop which is owned and operated by her husband. Can she be considered as a worker? Why?
What was the focus of the economic policies pursued by the colonial government in India? What were the impacts of these policies?
Do you think that in the last 50 years, employment generated in the country is commensurate with the growth of GDP in India? How?
What programmes has the government adopted to help the elderly people and poor and destitute women?
How can creation of income earning assets address the problem of poverty?
Is there any relationship between unemployment and poverty? Explain.
What are the main characteristics of health of the people of our country?
Were there any positive contributions made by the British in India? Discuss.
Victor is able to get work only for two hours in a day. Rest of the day, he is looking for work. Is he unemployed? Why? What kind of jobs could persons like Victor be doing?
How has the consumption pattern of energy changed over the years?