Sunday, March 25, 2007

UK Budget 2007: £200 million pounds goes to India to improve education for the under-10s

The donation of £200 million to India to help ensure all under 10s are in full-time education is a feature of Chancellor Brown's Budget that was not widely publicised, but supports the fact that India will become increasingly critical in filling the UK skills gap.

There is set to be a great need for skills in Britain, both in the manufacturing and services sectors, as the economy accelerates past what the workforce can support. In a decade from now, those children that are helped by UK investment will be paying back the British economy many times over.

Brown's decision to put money aside to invest in a country's future - even though it one that is many thousands of miles away from his own - is an indicator of how important it will be to source additional skills.

In order to remain competitive, Britain will rely on workers from overseas. India, it seems, is set to play a bigger role in the maintenance of Britain as a global leader than even we could have predicted.

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