As I go through the newspapers every morning (mostly e papers and sometimes print), I cannot help but notice the increasing influence of Indians making it big in corporations not only based in India but also abroad. Recent examples being, Satya Nadella, appointed CEO of Microsoft corp., Sundar Pichai, boss of Google Chrome, and a host of other Indian names (appeared in the news item which informed that Vic Gundotra had resigned from Google+ ).

When I read these names, being an Indian, it fills me with immense pride that Indians make a significant impact over the world. The aforementioned people stand a testimony to the fact. It also shows us that India has tremendous potential among its population (a large proportion of which is its youth), just waiting to be tapped.

How can we tap such a large and invaluable resource? To answer this question, it is necessary that we understand how those on the top made it? I think, while their grit, determination and ambition certainly drove them, the immediate environment, the values which were inculcated in them played a large part. I believe that in this regard, primary education plays a significant role in shaping the personality of an individual.

It has been proven by scientific research that the brain of an individual is pretty much developed by the age of 15. This means that the kind of influence or life experience an individual has in the first 15 years plays a pivotal role on the nature and behavior of the person in the later stages of life. If you take up the lives of incredibly successful persons , say for example Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, there has always been some person in their initial years,(Dr. Kalam attributes his success to his mother and his primary school teacher) who has shaped their personality and prepared them for the life ahead .

All this reinforces the idea that if primary education is promoted vigorously, it is just a matter of time by which India would start churning out leagues of intellectuals, who will be having a strong opinion on every issue. Intellectuals, who cannot be easily influenced by the unscrupulous because of their strong knowledge base. Therefore, the government should ensure that a significant portion of the budget goes for funding primary education primarily in rural areas. Policies should be designed to attract talent in this regard. The government should also ensure and implement steps to contain the number of dropouts from schools and also to increase the enrollment.