Asian Journal of Management

"Rural youth have new fresh brain, why do people forget that? We have to invest in the youth." (MOAF, 2005, personal communication). The present education system is undergoing transformation to set itself to the tunes of the globalized systems. These changes can be observed prominently among the urban communities. Recent government polices of National Skill Development, Start up India, Skill India etc. Skills and knowledge are the engines of economic growth and social development of any country. Urban areas with higher and better levels of knowledge and skills respond more effectively and promptly to challenges and opportunities of globalization. India is in transition to a knowledge based economy and its competitive edge will be determined by the abilities of its people to create, share and use knowledge more effectively. This transition will require India to convert workers into knowledge workers who will be more flexible, analytical, and adaptable and multi skilled. In the new knowledge economy the skill sets will include professional, managerial, operational, and behavioral, inter personal and inter functional skills. To achieve these goals, India needs flexible education and training system that will provide the foundation for learning, secondary and tertiary education and to develop required competencies as means of achieving lifelong learning. As education is the means for bringing socio-economic transformation in a society, various measures are being taken to enhance the access of education to the marginalized sections of the society.