A note from the author: “Singapore is a small country undoubtedly, but a powerhouse in many ways. Without prejudice to local cultures, Singaporeans read and speak English. They island boasts 100% literacy and its education system ranks with the best in the world. A tourist haven and an economic miracle, Singapore is an example of how language and learning should be the conversation uppermost on our agenda.”

I spent some time, recently, with a bunch of educators from Goa. We proceeded to dream. Increasingly, economists are linking human indices with the state of literacy and education. India has almost doubled life expectancy since Independence but is still a distance away from the developed world.

A few years ago, a flight from Delhi just short of 5 hours brought us to an island state in the east. How can places so proximate be so different, we wondered? “Literacy and education lead to progress and development,” said my friend, a citizen of that country. In fact, Sri Lankans can expect to live ten percent longer compared to their neighbors, a few northern miles across the sea. Interestingly, some Indian states e.g. Kerala, that have achieved high levels of literacy have life expectancy and child mortality rates that can be compared with Sri Lanka.

With a national objective of providing skills to more than 500 million Indians over the next decade, India proposes the largest vocation training exercise ever undertaken on this planet. Undoubtedly, this will not be easy. Besides logistics and massive expenditure we will have to overcome very serious challenges. The young people who reach working age are not receiving the quality of school (and college) education that may help make the task easier. More than 125 million children are not in school. We have a serious shortage of qualified teachers; some estimates put the number at close to 1.5 million. The indifferent quality of existing teachers and absenteeism further compound the problem. More than half the students in government schools are unable to read at grade level. Finally, a significant majority of college graduates are not job worthy. This system (or lack thereof) delivers the people who are the new workforce.

Various efforts are underway to address these issues. Some of us, recognizing the power and potential of technology, are espousing that cause. Technology is a reality. It is here and is in favor with the younger generations. Almost 165 million Indians are now accessing the internet, with more than 70 million using social media. Nearly every hand now holds a cell phone, shipments of smart phones and tablets are growing exponentially. Technology has unique attributes: it does not discriminate – the same tools, functions and features are available to every user; it is flexible – it can cater to existing needs and help create new opportunities. It is appealing to educationists since it can allow for learning at the pace of the learner and adapt to support contextual learning. The mammoth nature of the task ahead requires us to take recourse to methods that enable break away change.

Goa has done a pretty good job; more than 8 out of every 10 Goans are literate. The people of Goa live longer than the national average, and child mortality is amongst the lowest in the country. Emboldened by these achievements, we dreamed our fantasy vision for Goa. We described a Goa that ensures every child in school, teachers who meet standards, modern methods that allow for speed and scale. We envisioned a Goa that would become the school house of India. A Goa that attracts as many students as the number of holidaymakers. A Goa that shows even in India, it can be done within a decade. We called this fantasy land, Goa Singapora.

The original article has been published by The Economic Times