Global Human Capital Index - WEF

Why in news?

The “World Economic Forum’s - Global Human Capital Index”, ranked India at a 103rd among 130 countries.

What does the report say?

• The Global Human Capital Index 2017 ranks countries on how well they are developing their human capital.
• The rankings are based on four thematic dimensions — capacity, deployment, development, and know-how.
• The index is led by Scandinavian nations Norway, Finland and Switzerland, followed by large economies such as the US and Germany.
• In South Asia, the race is led by Sri Lanka at rank 70 and Nepal at 98, while India has a slightly better standing than Bangladesh & Pakistan.
• With the exception of Sri Lanka, the other South Asian countries are yet to reach the 60% threshold in HDI.

What are the implications for India?

• This is a scathing commentary on how India is handling its demographic dividend.
• India stands at the bottom among the G20 nations, is the lowest among BRICS nations.
• Dragged down by its poor labour participation and a big gender gap, India seems to be struggling against huge challenges.
• It has been noted that although India’s current educational attainment rate has improved over past generations, its youth literacy rate stands at a paltry 89%.

What are the positives for India?

• Despite the low ratings, the report notes that India is showing signs of slowly moving in the right direction.
• The primary way to realise the full human potential is by increasing inclusivity and expanding access to education and employment opportunities.
• On that note, the country scores well on the ‘know-how’ parameter that measures the use of specialised skills at work - such as economic complexity, availability of skilled employees.
• The other markers are that India ranks well on are its improving education system, skill diversity of graduates and high-skilled employment share.

What are the worldwide trends?

• The world average was only 62% on human capital development.
• Only 25 nations were found to have tapped at least 70% of their human capital, while for 14 countries was below 50%.
• South Asia’s overall score was behind the Middle East and North Africa but ahead of Sub-Saharan Africa.
• China was ranked an impressive 34th and its rapid expansion of educational attainment across its younger generations is poised to be an asset in preparing the future workforce.

Source: New Indian Express