the collective skills, knowledge, or other intangible assets of individuals that can be used to create economic value for the individuals, their employers, or their community: Education is an investment in human capital that pays off in terms of higher productivity.
Billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates once said, “In the long run, your human capital is your main base of competition.”
It’s in the international ranking of this human capital, a measure for how the investment in health and education has translated into workforce productivity that India ranks 158th amongst 195 countries studied.
In a scientific study conducted by Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington, measured the number of years a person can be expected to work in the years of peak productivity, taking into account life expectancy, functional health, years of schooling and learning.
Good news is that, for India this is an improvement of 4 points from 1990, when it ranked 162nd .
But India still lags behind countries like US, China, Sri Lanka and has human capital similar to Sudan and Nambia that have much lower GDPs.
While Finland scored the highest with 28 years of peak productivity, US with 23, China with 20 and Brazil with 16 years, way more productive that Indians.
While Indians are spending an extra 4 years in school between 1990 and 2016, thanks to various programs like Sarva Siksha Abhiyan and Right to Education, India has the second lowest score for education quality in South Asia in 2016 with learning score of 66 out of a possible 100.
On healthcare metrics between 1990 and 2016, Indians are expected to live an extra 5 years between the age of 20-64 and the functional health score has also improved from 36 in 1990 to 43 in 2016.
However, Indian workforce is the unhealthiest in South Asia.
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