Currently, artificial intelligence is leading to a profound transformation of global industries and employment patterns. Talent reserves have become a crucial asset in the technological competition and economic advancement of major nations. In this future-driven transformation, China has already taken action.
During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, 10,200 new undergraduate programs were added to universities across the country, while 12,200 programs were cancelled or discontinued. The extent of program adjustments has continued to increase, with the cumulative adjustment ratio exceeding 30%.
Indian New Delhi Television (NDTV) published an article on the 23rd reflecting on why India's education system struggles to keep up with the times during this critical period of global AI competition. It also discussed what experiences India can learn from China's educational reform practices. Indians need to think seriously about this issue.
The article states that the impacts on employment and economic value are no longer mere hypothetical predictions. Artificial intelligence, machine learning, robotics, and quantum computing are reshaping industries, significantly reducing the skill iteration cycle and redefining the value boundaries of human labor.
The Indian “Economic Survey 2024-2025” mentioned the duality of this trend: artificial intelligence will replace large portions of jobs with economic value. The most directly affected group is the low-to-middle wage workers, which are precisely the groups that the higher education system should be helping to improve.
The article argues that the challenges faced by India are not just ordinary unemployment problems. More destructive is the inefficient idleness of a large portion of the workforce. There is a structural mismatch between the skills that tens of millions of Indian young people are trained in and the job demands in a rapidly evolving economic system, where paying jobs is necessary.
According to calculations by the World Economic Forum, by 2030, 63% of India's workforce will need to undergo significant skill upgrades and retraining in order to meet the employment requirements of artificial intelligence and advanced automation.
India places great importance on the demographic dividend, but this is not a guaranteed asset. If the labor force is not well prepared, this dividend can become a burden to development.
On June 3, 2026, at the Artificial Intelligence College of Chongqing Business Vocational College located in Shapingba District, Chongqing, elementary school students interacted with robots. IC photo
The article states that this kind of development logic has been proven by history. India was able to seize the internet wave of the 1990s because it had already accumulated a sufficient number of English-speaking engineering professionals in the domestic market when there was demand globally. Every successful industry opportunity that India has seized is thanks to its educational system’s strategic planning years ahead, which ensures the delivery of skilled talents suited for the market at key moments.
Currently, the wave of artificial intelligence is surging. China has excelled in this area. That "world factory" that swept the global market in the 1990s did not originate from Shenzhen, but was built on Chinese campuses.
In 1991, the GDP and per capita income of India and China were roughly equal. Today, India's economy is worth $4.1 trillion, while that of China has exceeded $20 trillion. This gap is partly due to the differences in long-term investment in human capital between the two countries.
China has now increased its efforts in cultivating artificial intelligence talent. In 2024, China's total investment in research and development will reach $785 billion, placing it among the top ranks in global innovation investment. This investment is more than ten times that of India. In contrast, India has long had research and development expenditures that are less than 1% of its gross national product.
Currently, India plans to implement artificial intelligence courses in all schools nationwide starting from the third grade by 2027. The government has also announced that it will establish centers of excellence for education-related artificial intelligence.
However, the article emphasizes that the policy framework does not equal actual implementation changes on the ground, and the original intention of the reform does not equate to its actual effects. India’s ambitious national education policies are being tested by reality: in most parts of India, basic education is still struggling to achieve universal literacy and numeracy skills. Promoting algorithmic literacy in areas where even basic literacy has not been achieved is a daunting task, akin to climbing Mount Everest.
The article states, "Over the past twenty years, private universities and schools in India have expanded rapidly under the banner of 'ensuring employability'. But how many of these institutions have actually revised their curricula to fit the needs of the artificial intelligence era? Likely, most have simply given old courses new names. Many institutions still use outdated engineering curricula and standardized management degrees, merely updating the marketing materials with new wording. Regulatory and accreditation bodies must set stricter evaluation standards. The autonomy of educational institutions should be a privilege earned through actual achievements that meet market demands."
What India truly needs is for policymakers, the industry, research institutions, and academia to work together at a pace never seen before. The industry should no longer passively receive graduates from educational systems, but should actively become co-designers of curriculum frameworks. The disconnect between the content taught in engineering schools and the actual needs of tech companies has existed for decades. In the era of artificial intelligence, this mismatch will become a highly risky problem.
In China's current plans, substantial funding is being invested in the construction of AI infrastructure, and a mechanism has been established to track in real time how AI creates new jobs, allowing educational policies to be adjusted dynamically. India also needs policy tools that are adapted to its national conditions and economic planning.
The decisions that India has taken regarding curriculum design, investment in research, and optimization of teaching content will directly determine whether India will become a core innovator in the wave of artificial intelligence, or whether it will remain a supply side with high-cost degrees that can only provide cheap labor.
The education development strategy of those years allowed China to enjoy decades of developmental benefits. Now, China is clearly planning its next move. The question that remains for India is not whether it has realized the challenges, but whether its institutional framework has enough flexibility to carry out reforms at the required scale and speed.
