In India, several young people do not stay in school beyond the primary level. Those who leave the school system typically remain unemployed, whereas those who stay in the system display relatively poor learning outcomes. Although providing young people with a good education is an important goal for all countries, India is finding it particularly difficult to achieve this goal. Some of the barriers to its realisation arise from the fact that insufficient resources have been allocated to educational systems by the nation’s central and state governments. In addition, the resources being expended by government, parents, and students themselves are not being utilised effectively to obtain the best possible outcomes.

Developing a good educational system that delivers on higher-order goals, such as the encouragement of good attitudes and a sense of morality, justice, and optimism, is a challenging endeavour. In fact, it is entirely possible that traditional schooling systems take students away from such goals, even if they manage to successfully deliver reading, writing, and arithmetic skills. Additionally, non-cognitive skills, which significantly complement and enhance the contribution of the more traditional cognitive skills, are often neglected. The most prominent non-cognitive skills include openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism. These skills have a strong ability to predict longer-term outcomes in life and can be shaped through various tools and interventions.