I am not going to claim that democracy is the best form of government, but it is the best we have or are likely to get in the foreseeable future. So, let’s see how to get the best from it.
The biggest resource in any democracy, especially with universal suffrage – one person one vote – is the citizen. But when that citizen is ignorant, impoverished, and powerless, universal suffrage converts to universal suffering, and the resource never becomes an asset. All resemblance to real events and conditions is purely coincidental. The good news is that this situation is not a given or inevitable. It is reversible awaiting only the willingness to act, most powerfully at the macro level by governments or major corporations, but even at the micro level by individuals or small groups.
As I mentioned, the biggest resource is people. It is their power which must be harnessed. Among the people, the vast majority are the poor. Their biggest strength is motivation, because they are hungry, yet aspire to good things that they have no access to because they lack buying power. Though they want to be productive, they can’t because they have no marketable skills or means to earn a living which can leave them with surplus disposable income. Empowering them with marketable skills will achieve two great benefits: It will alleviate poverty and increase the middle class thereby increasing the size of the consumer base which will in turn boost the economy. Doing this doesn’t require humongous investment but can be done with existing infrastructure as I will explain. The results will transform society in multiple ways.
I propose a two-pronged strategy: Empower through technical education and enable entrepreneurship through interest free financing. The goal is not to create jobs, but to create job-creators who will create employment.
Sameer is an entrepreneur in Pune. I took this picture many years ago on my way to the airport when my driver stopped at a traffic signal. I want you to consider the mindset of the entrepreneur. Here is this young man who I never met, just looked at through my car window and clicked a photo, but who I consider to be one of my greatest inspirations. He is most likely not ‘highly educated’, academically speaking. But in business sense, he can teach us a thing or two.
He sets up his shop at a place where people won’t just drive by but will stop – at the traffic light. That way he is maximizing exposure to his sign and contact information. His main sign is in English. Not in Hindi or Marathi. Which I guess proves that Hindi and Marathi speakers are more responsible and don’t lose their keys that often. 😂🤣 But seriously, my guess is that he has segmented his clientele, and his sign is for the many non-Marathi speakers who work in the IT and ITES companies based in Pune. But he is covering all bases and has a sign in Hindi right at the top of his tree. His mobile number is in at least three places, which means that he is not restricted to working where he is located but can answer calls and service your needs where you are.
Notice the white cloth on which he is sitting and his neatly arranged tools. Pretty basic tools, but neatly arranged in some sort of order. The white cloth will show dirt very easily. But using it instead of a Khaki or brown, shows that he challenges himself and takes the trouble to wash it, if not daily, then at least a couple of times a week so that it remains white. The cloth is his announcement about his commitment to quality. If he can keep that cloth clean in that environment, sitting on the pavement by the road, you can be assured that if you call him, he will do a neat and good job for you. He is dressed neatly and sits in a very challenging environment, which shows his seriousness to his profession.
Finally, without the skill of ‘Key Maker’, Sameer would have been the usual boy you see at every roadside tea shop and Dhaba in India. Or a daily wage laborer at a construction site, carrying cement sacks and bricks on his head and back from place to place. He would have been a prime candidate for recruitment as a petty thief to begin with, graduating to more serious crimes with a nasty ending looming ever closer. But with a skill, he is a professional. He is a ‘Key Maker’. His profession is the Key to his own life and the way he practices it, and presents himself, is an inspiration to a graduate of the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, who advises business heads and founders on three continents. All in the space between red and green. That is Sameer. If anyone meets him, please convey to him my greeting and great admiration. That is the power of having a skill in hand.
I propose that the government set up Trade/Skill Schools in Government Schools. At present the quality and standard of education in Government Schools is far from satisfactory. But the infrastructure and buildings exists. And even if the standard of education was better, at the end of 10-12 years of schooling students have no life skills or qualification worth the name. They must stand in the grub line with illiterate, unskilled laborers though they are at least literate. Having to do that after 10-12 years of schooling shows the real value of what we like to call, ‘education’.
I propose that these schools, instead of teaching their present curriculum, create a one-year curriculum with intense focus on literacy and numeracy. During that year, after 4 hours of classroom learning, the children will spend another 4 hours (mandatory with more if they want) learning a skill. Any skill which is marketable. At the end of one year, they will earn a certificate for that skill. Literacy and numeracy will open doors for them for future learning in any field they choose. The skill will give them confidence, make them independent, give them self-respect and make them productive members of society. In due course it will leverage them out of poverty and into middle class. And set them on the path of creating jobs for others.
The course will consist of both theory and practice, including working on client sites, so that students have a thorough practical understanding of how the skill works on the ground. Teachers will be professionals, paid at their market rate, who will teach from a practical perspective, which is the real value add. Post qualification, students will be apprenticed for one year with a professional in that field to learn the ropes, solving problems for real clients. In Canada there are professional guilds who offer apprenticeships to young people and even pay them a stipend and at the end of the training, award them a certificate which is recognized for employment.
The second prong of the strategy is to set up a Venture Capital Fund which can offer interest free loans to graduates from these Trade Schools to set up their businesses. The real value in this is to create entrepreneurs who will generate employment, instead of standing in the grub line. Please note that I am not proposing grants or gifts, but loans. To borrow and return on time, boosts confidence and self-respect, which are both essential for a businessperson. People have no value for free money or anything free. Many will just squander it. But if they borrow and know that they must return it according to a schedule, they take it seriously and harbor their resources and work to ensure that they don’t default.
Given that there is a huge demand for all kinds of skills – as evidenced by the explosive growth of companies like Urban Company – I foresee that if we train them well, these children will become centers of prosperity for themselves and others very quickly. Entrepreneurs support local communities, fund education, create demand for goods and services locally and provide leadership. All prime contributors to nation building.
Once we establish proof of concept which will not take more than three years at the latest, the scheme can be promoted among NGOs and other organizations who want to work for social development and upliftment. Eventually, I would like to see this become a grassroots effort across the country, building capacity and citizen power among people who have always been downtrodden and depressed. I believe that with the prosperity that this will create, such communities will experience a drop in domestic violence, alcoholism and drug addiction and crime. Women, who I foresee will be leaders in this, will be empowered and become instrumental in taking this legacy forward from generation to generation.
Yet it all starts with reusing the Government School, which already exists.