forms the backbone of our economy. to reap the benefits of such a young work force, we need to implement the reforms in the education system and also bring forth new factors of production, namely knowledge, skills and technology which have the ability to unleash the productive frontiers of the economy in the most efficient and dynamic way. besides, taking a leaf from the western hemisphere, india should try to become “ knowledge economy ” to promote inclusive growth. i, therefore, would like underline three major areas to be focused to ensure that our education system is sustainable and meets global standards : i. quality of education – in terms of infrastructure, teachers, accreditation, etc. ii. affordability of education – ensuring poor and deserving students are not denied education. iii. ethics in education – avoiding over - commercialization of education system. let me take this opportunity to again wish jre group of institutions in establishing jre school of management which i am sure will play an important role in the 21st century in the indian education system by providing world class education at an affordable cost to the young students and achieve success in all frontiers of educational activities. thank you. bis central bankers ’ speeches annex 1 gross enrolment ratio ( ger ) for higher education source : chinaeducenter. com, unesco global education digest 2009 ; ey analysis annex 2 capacity utilization source : maharashtra dte, aitce ; ey analysis bis central bankers ’ speeches annex 3 student - teacher ratio source : “ higher education in india ”, ugc report, 2008 ; unesco institute for statistics 2010 ; ey analysis bis central bankers ’ speeches

educate the individual as a part of society – virtually all our knowledge, our clothes, our food is produced by others in our society, thus, we owe society and have responsibility to contribute back to society. c. through education, knowledge must continually be renewed by ceaseless effort, if it is not to be lost. it resembles a statute of marble which stands in the desert and is continually threatened with burial by the shifting sand. the hands of service must ever be at work, in order that the marble continue to lastingly shine in the sun. while discussing the importance of education, i must state that schools have become the most important means of transforming wealth of knowledge and skills from one generation to another. however, the role of institutions becomes more challenging in the modern world bis central bankers ’ speeches with innovations and technological developments. investment in education and educational institutions should be viewed as an investment for economic prosperity. in india, there are about 26, 478 institutions providing higher education and accounting for the largest number in the world. in comparison, according to a report1, in 2010, the u. s. had only 6, 706 higher education schools and china had 4, 000. it is important that given the large number of schools of higher learning in india, we must target to bring more students under the system. investment in human capital, lifelong learning and quality education help in the development of society and nation. demographic contour according to the national commission on population, it is expected that the age profile of population of india will experience changes in the coming years. by 2016, approximately 50 per cent of the total population will be in the age group of 15 – 25 years. it is projected that a vast population would enter the working age group in the next 15 years, leading to increase in productive activities and also savings rate as witnessed in japan in the 1950s and china 1980s. in other words, there would be a tremendous rise in the number of employable work force in the job market which would demand commensurate investment in education. in the literature, demographic dividend refers to population “ lump ” in the working age group of 15 – 60 which can be described as a major advantage for pushing the economic growth. it suggests that the major challenge before india is how this advantageous demographic profile can be harnessed to reflect in the macro - economic parameters of the country. given the demographic profile advantage, the average indian will be only 29 years old in 2020 as compared with 37 years for