At a seminar held at NCAER, Heather A McKay and Hal Salzman from Rutgers University spoke on “The Changing Role of Community Colleges in the US: Possible Lessons for Higher Education in India.
Community colleges address a mid-level skill gap in the US economy, providing post-secondary technical skills and training for a broad range of occupations. The changing global economy, technology, and employer demands are influencing educational institutions in the US and community colleges in particular, to change their traditional roles and pedagogy. In the emerging models in the US there may be potential technology/pedagogy transfer which could be very relevant for India as it engages in its higher education reform through Rutgers University Students Assembly (RUSA) and other initiatives.
In this seminar, McKay discussed several state-of-the-art community college programmes in the US and how they might relate to the proposed RUSA reforms. Salzman spoke more broadly on the emergence of new approaches to “development,” especially outside of urban, industrial economy models. Researchers and educationists from NCAER and other institutions in Delhi participated in the discussions that were moderated by Meeta W Sengupta from Center for Civil Society, New Delhi.
NCAER presented the quarterly forecast of the major macroeconomic variables based on NCAER’s modelling work at this seminar held in its campus. NCAER’s quarterly report titled “Quarterly Review of the Economy” was released on this occasion.
The QRE provides a comprehensive review of developments in the economy in the agriculture, industry, services, trade, finance, prices, public finance, and macroeconomic sectors. The reports also provide annual macroeconomic forecasts. A review of the economy is prepared each quarter and provided to the subscribers of the Review and to the media.
Rajneesh Narula, Professor of the- International Business Regulation at the Henley Business School, University of Reading, UK, presented a seminar on “Is Outward FDI from Developing Countries a ‘Good Thing’? Policy Implications for Home Countries” at the NCAER.
A number of developing countries – such as India – have seen a growth in outward FDI by domestic multinational enterprises over the last two decades. Many home countries (both developing and developed) have sought to encourage and promote such activity, arguing that such firms reflect their competitiveness and shifting comparative advantage. Other countries have reacted with alarm at outward FDI activity, feeling that it represents a ‘hollowing out’ of domestic assets-, and signals a decline in their competitiveness. Professor Narula contended that both can be true simultaneously, especially in those countries that have a ‘‘Lewisian’’ dual economy, such as India. There are costs and benefits associated with outward FDI. Professor Narula argued that there is a greater likelihood that such investments will result in capital flight rather than in opportunities for domestic upgrading, when generic approaches are applied.
NCAER organized a Roundtable Discussion on Caring for the Elderly in India: Challenges for a Society in Transition to examine some of the opportunities and challenges using a new and exciting panel survey conducted by NCAER and University of Maryland. India Human Development Survey (IHDS) carried out in 2004-5 and 2011-12 describes the changes in the lives of senior citizens over a period of tremendous social transformation. New results from IHDS framed this discussion.
