VOA常速英语2007年-India's Working Age Population Growing in Size,

By Steve Herman
New Delhi
05 December 2007

Even as India emerges as one of the world's major economies, it is still struggling to achieve widespread literacy among its people, and officials say there is a massive shortage of skilled labor¹. VOA's Steve Herman reports from New Delhi that a large labor force by itself is not enough to offset² the economic damage from a failure to educate.

India has 320 million people between the ages of six and 16. In a decade, India will be home to 800 million people of working age. All that available labor is touted³ as a competitive advantage over the rapidly aging populations of the developed world.

The equation, however, is not as simple as it seems.

A report by the Confederation of Indian Industry and the World Economic Forum⁴ has emphasized that India's burgeoning⁵ economy needs not just more workers, but more skilled workers. The experts agree that failure to educate its people is hurting India's economy.

Chaly Mah is the Asia-Pacific chief of Deloitte, a global consulting company. He says there is a widespread misconception that India and China have a lot of people available for hire.

 

"I think that's a myth, because when you talk about skilled labor and skilled professionals, there is actually a massive shortage. And I think the core of the problem is you've got to start from the very beginning, and that is, ensure that you have a solid education system," said Mah.

India is still struggling to achieve nationwide literacy, especially among girls and the rural poor.

Some two-thirds of Indians are now believed to be literate⁶, compared to less than 20 percent in 1951, when the first census⁷ was taken after independence. But critics complain that literacy is often defined as merely being able to write one's own name. And one-third of a billion-plus people, those still illiterate⁸, is an awful lot of people without basic education.

Education became a fundamental right for children in India only at the beginning of this decade. But many poverty-stricken parents feel compelled to have their children work, rather than go to school.

Shamsher Mehta is director-general of the Confederation of Indian Industry.

"A very high percentage don't go to school, an even higher percentage are dropping out of school. And therefore, while it looks like a demographic advantage today, if you don't do something about it - both in public and private - then I'm afraid this risk might just slip out of our hands and might become a liability," said Mehta.

Mehta was among those speaking about the country's development challenges and risks during the World Economic Forum's India Economic Summit this week in New Delhi.

Shekhar Dutt is a former top education official in the state of Madhya Pradesh, and is now a deputy national security advisor⁹. He told business leaders at the event that while India's state and central governments are serious about the goal of universal education, it is not just a matter of having higher enrollment¹¹.

"If you try to enroll¹⁰ girls into rural schools and if there are no toilets, it's a difficult thing. So when we take up things like larger enrollment, we have to also see that the infrastructure¹² of the schools are improved," said Dutt.

Many villages do not even have a primary school and, frequently, those that do are poorly funded and might not even contain blackboards or desks.

Another significant problem is that teachers are poorly trained and many, especially in rural communities, do not show up for class regularly. The report says many of those who do show up do not have an adequate curriculum and will discriminate¹³ against students who are from poor families or members of lower castes.

International organizations, including the World Bank, have contributed funds for expanding primary education in India. The country does have a number of high-quality convent schools, a legacy¹⁴ of the British colonial era. Private schools, most of which were established after independence, remain - with token exceptions - the provenance¹⁵ of the elite¹⁶.

Former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright told the forum it is urgent for India to narrow the gap between rich and poor if the country's education and manpower needs are to be met.

"Because it creates these issues that others have talked about, in terms of lack of education, lack of sanitation¹⁷, bad usage of resources and the whole way of how to include the vast number of people within any society within the legal framework," she said.

The industrial confederation and economic forum joint¹⁸ report says India should improve the training and discipline of teachers, to ensure better education.

At present, nearly all of the money allocated¹⁹ for education by the central government goes to pay teachers' salaries. The government has financed various state-run schemes, including free textbooks for girls and the underprivileged, with varying degrees of success. In some states, critics say, money that is allocated is not being spent.

1 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

2 offset   

n.分支，补偿；v.抵消，补偿

参考例句：

• Their wage increases would be offset by higher prices.他们增加的工资会被物价上涨所抵消。
• He put up his prices to offset the increased cost of materials.他提高了售价以补偿材料成本的增加。

3 touted   

v.兜售( tout的过去式和过去分词 )；招揽；侦查；探听赛马情报

参考例句：

• She's being touted as the next leader of the party. 她被吹捧为该党的下一任领导人。
• People said that he touted for his mother and sister. 据说，他给母亲和姐姐拉生意。 来自辞典例句

4 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。

5 burgeoning   

adj.迅速成长的，迅速发展的v.发芽，抽枝( burgeon的现在分词 )；迅速发展；发（芽），抽（枝）

参考例句：

• Our company's business is burgeoning now. 我们公司的业务现在发展很迅速。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• These efforts were insufficient to contain the burgeoning crisis. 这些努力不足以抑制迅速扩散的危机。 来自辞典例句

6 literate   

n.学者；adj.精通文学的，受过教育的

参考例句：

• Only a few of the nation's peasants are literate.这个国家的农民中只有少数人能识字。
• A literate person can get knowledge through reading many books.一个受过教育的人可以通过读书而获得知识。

7 census   

n.(官方的)人口调查，人口普查

参考例句：

• A census of population is taken every ten years.人口普查每10年进行一次。
• The census is taken one time every four years in our country.我国每四年一次人口普查。

8 illiterate   

adj.文盲的；无知的；n.文盲

参考例句：

• There are still many illiterate people in our country.在我国还有许多文盲。
• I was an illiterate in the old society,but now I can read.我这个旧社会的文盲，今天也认字了。

9 advisor   

n.顾问，指导老师，劝告者

参考例句：

• They employed me as an advisor.他们聘请我当顾问。
• The professor is engaged as a technical advisor.这位教授被聘请为技术顾问。

10 enroll   

v.招收；登记；入学；参军；成为会员（英)enrol

参考例句：

• I should like to enroll all my children in the swimming class.我愿意让我的孩子们都参加游泳班。
• They enroll him as a member of the club.他们吸收他为俱乐部会员。

11 enrollment   

n.注册或登记的人数；登记

参考例句：

• You will be given a reading list at enrollment.注册时你会收到一份阅读书目。
• I just got the enrollment notice from Fudan University.我刚刚接到复旦大学的入学通知书。

12 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

13 discriminate   

v.区别，辨别，区分；有区别地对待

参考例句：

• You must learn to discriminate between facts and opinions.你必须学会把事实和看法区分出来。
• They can discriminate hundreds of colours.他们能分辨上百种颜色。

14 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

15 provenance   

n.出处；起源

参考例句：

• Kato was fully aware of the provenance of these treasures.加藤完全清楚这些珍宝的来源。
• This plant's provenance is Asiadj.这种植物原产于亚洲。

16 elite   

n.精英阶层；实力集团；adj.杰出的，卓越的

参考例句：

• The power elite inside the government is controlling foreign policy.政府内部的一群握有实权的精英控制着对外政策。
• We have a political elite in this country.我们国家有一群政治精英。

17 sanitation   

n.公共卫生，环境卫生，卫生设备

参考例句：

• The location is exceptionally poor,viewed from the sanitation point.从卫生角度来看，这个地段非常糟糕。
• Many illnesses are the result,f inadequate sanitation.许多疾病都来源于不健全的卫生设施。

18 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

19 allocated   

adj. 分配的 动词allocate的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The Ford Foundation allocated millions of dollars for cancer research. 福特基金会拨款数百万美元用于癌症研究。
• More funds will now be allocated to charitable organizations. 现在会拨更多的资金给慈善组织。