By global standards, India has a dismal Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) proportion of people of college-going age actually enrolled in institutions (Incidentally, our GER stands at 12 percent). Doubling this figure will require an investment worth Indias Gross Domestic Product (GDP), believes Samir Brahmachari, director-general of Indias Council of Scientific and Industrial Research. Such an investment is obviously out of reach, given the competing priorities of our country. Apart from a dismal GER, India also faces a perennial shortage of teachers, while quality of those available, varies considerably. It is clear to the government that to become the next big thing in the present global knowledge economy, an educated population is cardinal, otherwise, even the concept of Indias demographic dividend will fall flat.