Some points regarding India – a) Education expenditure is the second largest expense of an Indian household after food and groceries. b) Indian population is growing at a pace of 1.7% pa c) Population growth has outpaced the growth in the education sector infrastructure d) Education sector – hitherto considered a Govt. domain, is now seeing pvt. Sector investments e) Development of new sectors of employment – Aviation, Hospitality, Retail, BPOs etc have provided high employment – where do these people get trained? With the above stated points, it is impossible to visualize India of 2020 with the existing Education infrastructure. As economy grows, we would see a host of new employment opportunities coming up. This would lay a demand on education industry to provide necessary skill set to the employment seekers…..going by the spiraling of the skill set demand…..vocation training sector, child care, child psychology and health sectors are seen as employment driving sectors. Looking at the education ladder, better schooling facilities, finishing schools, personality and career development etc. are going to witness a phenomenal growth. Add on to this the recession free nature of this sector. For an investment in education sector, it takes some time to gain credibility and flourish, but once credibility is established, there is none to challenge….check any names in the education sector and you wouldn’t find anyone closing shop because of recession. One thing that coming times would see is rural penetration of good quality education providers. We already have VSAT and Computer based learning models penetrating deep into the rural heartland. As economy progresses, newer technological breakthroughs open new fronts, education delivery models would evolve….changing from basic chalk and board to VSAT based or online tutoring, whatever the delivery model may be followed…future India is going to see a higher growth in education sector investments – lead by Govt spendings, private sector investments and technological developments. Putting it together – Education sector is not only Ever Green – but also has a potential to be the next IT sector of the country – in terms of Employment generation November, 2010 “Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish; and you have fed him for a lifetime" That’s the power of education for education has been the foundation for any progressive society. www.i360training.in