Education is considered to be an important input for the development of a nation. How?
Education is considered as an important input for the development of a nation because the development of a nation rests on the proportion of the educated people in the country. The significance of education in the economic development of a nation is explained through the following points:
i. Imparts Quality Skills and Knowledge: Education endows people with quality skills, thereby, enhancing their productivity.
Consequently, it enhances the income earning capacities of and opportunities for the people. Moreover, it also enables human capital to utilise the available physical capital optimally.
ii. Develops Mental Abilities: Education develops mental abilities of people and helps them to make their choice rationally and intellectually. Education churns out good citizens by inculcating values in them.
iii. Acceptability of Modernisation: An educated public of a nation has greater acceptability of modernisation and modern techniques. This not only helps the economy to grow but also facilitates a primitive economy to break the shackles of tradition and backwardness.
iv. Eradicates Skewed Income Distribution: Education not only increases the income earning capacity but also reduces the skewed distribution of income, thereby, forming an egalitarian society.
v. Raises Standard and Quality of Living: Education enhances the income earning capacity of people and, thereby, raising the standard of living and improving the quality of living.
vi. Increases the Participation Rate: It fosters economic development by increasing the participation of people in the process of growth and development.
vii. One Solution for Other Economic Problems: The importance of education is not only limited to making people educated but also in facilitating an underdeveloped economy to solve different but interrelated macro economic problems like poverty, income inequality, population, investments, under utilisation of resources.
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.
What are the indicators of educational achievement in a country?
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?
Group the following features pertaining to the economies of India, China and Pakistan under three heads
• One-child norm
• Low fertility rate
• High degree of urbanisation
• Mixed economy
• Very high fertility rate
• Large population
• High density of population
• Growth due to manufacturing sector
• Growth due to service sector.
The following table shows the population and worker population ratio for India in 1999-2000. Can you estimate the workforce (urban and total) for India?
Region | Estimates of Population (in crores) |
Worker Population Ratio |
Estimated No. of Workers (in crores) |
Rural Uraban Total |
71.88 28.52 100.40 |
41.9 33.7 39.5 |
71.88/100 x 41.9 = 30.12 ? ? |
Infrastructure contributes to the economic development of a country. Do you agree? Explain.
Why is agricultural diversification essential for sustainable livelihoods?
Define worker-population ratio.
Why were reforms introduced in India?
Name some notable economists who estimated India’s per capita income during the colonial period?
Distinguish between ‘Green Revolution’ and ‘Golden Revolution’.
Fill in the blanks
(a) First Five Year Plan of ________________ commenced in the year 1956. (Pakistan/China)
(b) Maternal mortality rate is high in _____________. (China/Pakistan)
(c) Proportion of people below poverty line is more in __________. (India/Pakistan)
(d) Reforms in ______________ were introduced in 1978. (China/Pakistan)
What are High Yielding Variety (HYV) seeds?