Nexford University launches online degrees to support Modi-led EQUIP program to empower youth in India
Bangalore: India is on a path to become a $5 trillion-dollar economy by 2024. This looks like an achievable goal with the Indian government taking the necessary steps to boost technological growth, infrastructural growth and encourage economic development. A major piece of the game plan for achieving this goal is to focus on India’s education sector.
To empower the growth of the Indian education system, Washington DC-based Nexford University, an online global university, has launched a first-of-its-kind Master of Business Administration (MBA) and a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) online degree program to bridge the skills gap in India and support Modi-government led Education Quality Upgradation and Inclusion Programme (EQUIP) programme which aims to double the Gross Enrolment ratio (GER) in India, from 26% to 52% in a matter of 5 years.
As a recent World Economic Forum (WEF) report indicates; traditional models of education are not equipped to prepare young people for our fast-changing world. Technology and the skills required are moving at a faster pace than experts or companies predicted India’s education system has thus far struggled to keep up with the pace in these changing times.
The ‘Demand & Supply’ gap in the education sector globally is hurting economies. And the traditional educational system is failing to fill the gap. According to a report by UNESCO Institute of Statistics (UIS), over 48 countries face this problem, with India second on the list. This is where online education comes in with skilled teachers and technology-driven education at an affordable price.
Nexford University’s management team comes from reputed organizations such as Harvard, Microsoft, Google, among others, to provide best-in-class skills.
Fadl Al Tarzi, CEO of Nexford, said, “We believe that one’s physical location should no longer prevent them from accessing economic opportunity no matter where it exists across the world. With the virtual economy booming worldwide and skills shortages only increasing in the US & Western Europe, youth in countries like India play a critical role in those shortages. Nexford is here to help equip learners all across the globe with the skills they need to become globally competitive.”
A growing economy like India needs employable workforce, armed with the skills and knowledge of the current ecosystem, over traditional skills. The unemployment rate in India is at a 45-year high and 40 percent of those employed are working in SMEs and startups, that’s almost 80 million people. Entrepreneurs are the backbone of this economy and Nexford aims to equip every individual with the skills to start their own venture.
“Nexford’s curriculum aims to provide skill-focused education designed after analyzing over 30 million jobs and surveying leaders who employ more than 2.5 million people globally. These firms include the likes of Microsoft, Uber, Ernst & Young (EY), Deloitte, and PepsiCo, among others. Moreover, with employers in the technology sector looking to increase their hiring in 2019 and with the increase of employment by approximately 600 million in the next 3 years, there has never been a better time to upskill, ” explained Dr. Robin Johnston, Nexford’s VP of Academic Innovation.