Infosys HR boss:  Pay teachers more
By Lalit Nene

Trust Infosys head honchos to come up with some illuminating numbers and their forthright opinions on all the issues. T V Mohandas Pai, Director, HR for Infosys has very strong views on the state of education in India. Recently, in a seminar,  he voiced his concerns on what ails the education sector in India and how the government seems to be completely oblivious to companies’ problems.

The biggest challenge for India in the next decade will be finding adequately skilled, educated and trained workforce. We need 6 crore more people to come into the Indian workforce if the Indian economy were to double in the next day,” he says.

Mr. Pai is of the firm view that India’s growth story will be derailed if we do not address the need for a skilled workforce. Add to that he says that there should be a level-playing field when it comes to salary that rewards teachers and students more rationally. “A rookie who comes from an Indian Institute of Management (IIM) gets an average annual salary of Rs. 25 lakh. Compare that with the professors, who with years of experience, and a doctorate gets half of their starting salary,” he says.

India has 450 deemed and other universities, 18,000 colleges and 11 million young people. However, our enrollment rate of 11 per cent in the age group of 18-24 is lower than other emerging markets where the enrollment rate is 25 per cent. Developed countries have enrollment rates of 52 per cent.
 
He shared some interesting insights into the kind of problems that the country could run into with its existing growth story. “India builds 1 billion sq feet of space and approximately 20 lakh people are required. Where are the plumbers, carpenters, electricians who can serve all these needs?, he says. He shared an interesting anecdote. “Earlier employers used to ask his friend in temping operations for two hands, two legs and something in the head. These days it’s two hands, two heads and forget the head!”