Human capital as a strategic resource
In the 21st century, the competitiveness of countries is determined not only by access to natural resources or production capacity but also by their ability to develop their own human resources and scientific potential.
Human capital is the foundation of technological sovereignty and long-term economic growth. The quality of this capital is primarily shaped by the education system, and an individual’s capabilities become capital only when they are put to productive use. Human capital also encompasses the ability to create new jobs, structures and types of economic activity.
The World Economic Forum forecasts that by 2030, the global economy will lose 92 million jobs due to automation, while simultaneously creating 170 million new positions. The vast majority of these will require skills combining engineering, data analysis and natural sciences.
The school education systems of BRICS countries
account for around a third of the global education landscape. Education is one of the key factors in sustainable development, social equality and technological progress. Amid global transformation, the education agenda is increasingly being viewed as an instrument for shaping the future.
For BRICS countries, with a combined population of 3.9 billion, this transformation is not an abstract challenge but a question of economic sovereignty. The response is a systematic restructuring of higher education. The fundamental shift is that universities are no longer perceived simply as part of the social sector but are increasingly regarded as strategic infrastructure – on a par with energy, logistics and digital platforms.
Kirill Kostin, Director of the Diplomacy of Knowledge Center and an expert in international relations, BRICS institutional development, public and civic diplomacy, strategic communications and futurology, supports this view:
“Universities are becoming not only institutions for transferring knowledge but also hubs that bring together the strategic priorities of the state, business requirements and the development of new technologies. In this sense, universities are becoming part of the strategic infrastructure of the BRICS group. Through international network programmes, joint laboratories, academic departments, academic mobility and support for youth initiatives, they contribute to the development of human capital and horizontal ties between scientists and public leaders from different countries,” Kirill Kostin stated.
For infrastructure projects in the 21st century, financial and engineering resources alone are no longer sufficient – the existence of a sustainable system for training specialists is becoming equally important. Within this system, universities ensure the continuity of economic development by continuously developing human capital.
Educational cooperation is expanding alongside the restructuring of the global economy. The growth of production chains, industrial digitalisation and the increasing number of joint infrastructure projects require specialists capable of working across different national jurisdictions. This is why workforce training is gradually moving beyond the boundaries of national education policy and becoming part of the international economic agenda.
In 2025, education systems around the world simultaneously faced teacher shortages, increasing pressure on schools, more complex demographic structures, labour market pressures, growing inequality and the rapid development of digital technologies.
Besides creating
human capital, education is itself a growing sector of the economy. The education services market is expanding, while education exports, as demonstrated by the most successful countries, can generate tens of billions of dollars. Citizens of BRICS countries regard education as one of their priority social values: in their view, a high level of education is one of the most important guarantees of success in life.
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Educational specialisation as a structural advantage of BRICS
The national objectives of each country directly determine the structure of its educational programmes. However, behind the diversity of approaches, a common pattern is emerging: the education systems of BRICS countries are increasingly moving towards complementarity rather than standardisation. Despite continuing overlap in certain fields, the main trend is for countries to establish centres of expertise in areas where they have already developed national strengths.
The cornerstone of this cooperation is respect for national sovereignty and one another’s traditions. For BRICS, this means that national education models are not replaced by a single template but serve as a
foundation for achieving shared human capital development goals. Building educational ties between BRICS countries and gaining an understanding of the cultures and traditions that shape individual identities provide a solid foundation for future relations between the group’s member states.
The scale of BRICS education systems is comparable to the group’s demographic weight. In the 2023–2024 academic year, more than a third of all school-age children worldwide
lived in BRICS countries, while more than 35 per cent of the world’s schools were located within the group’s member states. India leads in the number of school-age students, with more than 365 million, followed by China with over 211 million, Brazil with more than 53 million, Russia with over 22 million and South Africa with around 20 million. This demographic foundation gives any educational reforms within BRICS global significance.
China is implementing a strategy to become a leading educational power. The plan aims to transform the country into a global leader in education by linking educational reforms with technological modernisation, national identity and global influence. According to the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council of China, investment by state-owned enterprises in research and development reached 1.1 trillion yuan (approximately US$164.1 billion) in 2025,
Xinhua News Agency, a TV BRICS partner, reported. The share of revenue reinvested in research stood at 2.86 per cent. The country has 474 national-level R&D platforms, employing 1.44 million people in research and development.
Through its National Education Policy reforms, India aims to increase the proportion of young people in higher education to 50 per cent by 2035. The country is focusing on its demographic dividend and transforming its population of more than one billion into a productive workforce. In India, a dedicated Ministry of Skill
Development and Entrepreneurship oversees the national skills development model, institutionally establishing the link between education and the labour market at the highest level of government.
Through its Priority 2030 programme, Russia is creating a network of research universities integrated into the real economy. Brazil is investing in agricultural technologies because it possesses unique expertise in tropical agriculture, while food security is becoming one of the major global challenges. The UAE is investing in space technologies and artificial intelligence to diversify its national economy. South Africa is strengthening the training of specialists in critical minerals needed for the energy transition. Ethiopia is developing its technical education system as it moves towards industrialisation and the expansion of industrial parks.
According to a
publication by the BRICS Expert Council–Russia and the Institute of Education at the National Research University Higher School of Economics (HSE University), the education systems of BRICS countries develop through their differences. Diversity becomes a source of growth – a foundation for creating flexible, resilient and equitable education models. This experience may benefit not only BRICS countries but also a wider range of states interested in rethinking approaches to school education in light of their social, cultural and institutional realities.
This distribution of specialisations allows countries to avoid duplicating identical research capabilities and to concentrate resources in areas where national advantages have already been established. A distributed model of workforce training is emerging within BRICS, in which universities begin to function as elements of a unified knowledge chain. In essence, this involves creating and developing a
system for transferring multidisciplinary knowledge and establishing an innovation network of consortia around universities – precisely how the strategic documents of leading higher education institutions define this objective.
These efforts follow a common logic: cooperation in higher education is becoming one of the key drivers of long-term scientific and technological integration among BRICS countries through the joint training of specialists who, in 15 years’ time, will manage the group’s critical infrastructure. Within this framework, joint educational programmes begin to function like industrial production chains: training an engineer in one country, undertaking a research placement in another and implementing a technological development in a third become links in a single process that shortens the time between an idea and its practical application while distributing costs among participants.
Russia’s experience is particularly illustrative in this regard. Work is under way to restore industry-specific training at bachelor’s, specialist and master’s degree levels, taking into account regional characteristics and the production specialisations of enterprises operating in each region. This approach makes it possible to train specialists who are in demand in local labour markets while simultaneously replenishing regional human capital rather than losing it to major metropolitan centres.
India has prioritised the large-scale training of engineers. Its network of 23 Indian Institutes of Technology has become a globally recognised brand. Pharmaceutical clusters in Hyderabad and Pune make the country one of the world’s largest producers of pharmaceutical ingredients. According to
data from India’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the country’s total exports of goods and services reached US$860.09 billion in 2025, increasing by 4.22 per cent year on year. IT and business services dominate the export structure, accounting for 55 per cent of the services component.
Despite its unique resource base, South Africa is experiencing a decline in research funding: according to the 2025 national report, R&D expenditure fell to 0.61 per cent of GDP, while business investment in science is also declining. This creates a risk of dependence on external technologies in an industry that is critically important for the global energy transition.
The UAE has established the world’s first university dedicated to artificial intelligence and is developing capabilities in the space sector. Ethiopia is building a technical education system to support industrialisation.
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Technology chains and skills of the future
If national specialisation determines which skills are developed within individual countries, the next question is how these skills will be integrated into the group’s shared production and technology chains.
The structure of the future labour market will be shaped not by individual professions, but by technology chains. The main challenge lies not in competition between humans and artificial intelligence, but in competition between specialists who know how to use AI and those who do not possess such skills. Technology does not eliminate jobs – it changes the requirements for skills, and it is precisely this gap that is shaping the new structure of demand.
In recent decades, intellectual capital – the ability to generate and adopt innovations – has become a key element of human capital. It is this capacity that is decisive for economic modernisation and the transition to new technological paradigms. In the modern economy, education should be viewed not as an area of expenditure but as an investment that determines the scale of economic growth.
Artificial intelligence is becoming a central theme in education policy, yet actual reforms remain fragmented, while education systems are failing to keep pace with growing demand for AI skills. In many countries, a gap persists between the rapid development of technology and the readiness of schools and teachers to use it.
China’s AI model is based on a centralised state strategy under which AI is integrated at every level of the education system: from school curricula and teacher training to school management and national digital infrastructure. The policy is aimed at training personnel for the digital economy and achieving the goal of turning the country into a leading educational power by 2035. AI is gradually becoming part of education policy around the world, although countries are taking different paths – from cautious regulation to an accelerated technological race.
According to
data from the World Economic Forum report, the five sectors expected to generate the largest increase in jobs by 2030 are:
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technology and digital transformation – 35 million;
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green energy – 28 million;
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healthcare – 24 million;
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education and workforce development – 18 million;
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infrastructure and mobility – 15 million.
This structure of demand means that BRICS countries will need to align their national education strategies not with current conditions, but with the future dynamics of the global labour market.
“The greatest demand will be in areas such as artificial intelligence, data science, cybersecurity, renewable energy, climate science, biotechnology, engineering, public health and advanced manufacturing. At the same time, entrepreneurship, innovation and global governance will become increasingly important in preparing leaders for the changing international environment,” believes Raymond Matlala, an expert in business, education and the Global South, and Founder and Chairperson of the South African BRICS Youth Association.
To meet these requirements, the expert believes universities must modernise curricula, invest in digital infrastructure and research, and strengthen cooperation with industry and international partners.
Digital transformation is affecting not only the labour market, but also the education system itself. For the first time in history, digital technologies make it possible to personalise the learning trajectory, methods and pace of study for every learner. Existing solutions already make it possible to overcome traditional constraints – differences in the pace at which children in the same classroom master the curriculum, the inability to choose a teacher, and vocational colleges falling behind industry in terms of technological equipment.
The issue is no longer about training personnel for individual countries but about creating a shared pool of specialists capable of implementing projects across the entire BRICS group. The availability of such specialists determines the speed at which technologies are introduced, productivity levels and the ability to create high value-added products. Today, education programmes are increasingly designed not around individual disciplines, but around technological areas – making it possible to adapt specialist training more quickly to economic changes while simultaneously taking into account the needs of industry, science and business.
It is precisely this logic that leading universities are embedding in their
strategies, with the aim of creating a new type of university that is competitive in the international education space. A key priority is the introduction and application of world-class cross-sector technologies and the training of specialists capable of working across disciplinary boundaries.
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BRICS Network University initiative: creating a common skills market
The institutional embodiment of this logic is the BRICS Network University, launched in 2015. Today, it brings together dozens of universities across priority areas including energy, computer science, ecology and economics. Joint master’s programmes are being developed, while dual-degree mechanisms are in place – an instrument not merely for academic exchange, but for creating a cross-border market for highly skilled labour.
“Today, universities are expected not only to exchange students but also to jointly develop research, technologies and solutions to shared global challenges. For BRICS countries, cooperation in higher education is important for creating the skilled workforce needed for the digital economy, climate resilience, healthcare and industrial development,” believes expert Raymond Matlala.
In his view, universities should strengthen partnerships through joint research, dual-degree programmes, faculty exchanges and digital learning platforms, as well as work more closely with industry and governments.
“Closer academic cooperation among BRICS countries will also deepen South-South cooperation and help generate knowledge that responds to the development priorities of the Global South,” the expert emphasises.
The proposed cooperation mechanisms are already extending beyond the intergovernmental agenda. Demand among young people for the development of such formats is becoming increasingly visible. For students and young professionals, the international education space is increasingly viewed as part of their future professional trajectory.
Kirill Kostin stresses that demand for such formats is also confirmed by young people’s interest: “Our research shows that this also reflects the priorities of young people themselves: among the most sought-after areas of cooperation, they identify student exchanges, joint educational programmes, business and investment.”
Unlike intergovernmental agreements, university partnerships make it possible to build sustainable professional ties between research teams, laboratories and future specialists long before major international projects are launched. Under this logic, educational integration does not follow industrial integration but develops alongside it, creating a foundation years in advance.
By 2030, the total number of students enrolled in joint programmes within BRICS could
reach 100,000.
The main economic effect of the BRICS Network University extends far beyond academia. When research teams from different BRICS countries work together on shared projects over many years, this creates the conditions for joint research, technological development and the subsequent commercialisation of results. This is how education becomes part of the economy.
Academic mobility as a tool for technological alignment
Academic mobility is ceasing to be a form of educational tourism and is becoming a tool for aligning technological standards and creating a common market for highly skilled labour. BRICS countries gain the opportunity not to import expertise from outside but to develop it within the group – through joint master’s programmes, dual degrees and shared research projects.
At the same time, international higher education is entering a phase of “rebalancing”: leading countries are simultaneously tightening migration restrictions and shifting from an “open-door” policy to managed internationalisation. At the same time, new centres of attraction for students are emerging – countries in the Middle East and East Asia. In these conditions, academic mobility is becoming more regulated and geographically redistributed. For BRICS countries, this opens a window of opportunity to attract flows of talented students.
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Employer demand: profile of a new-generation specialist
The transformation of the education model is changing the criteria by which graduates are assessed. Employers are increasingly less likely to view a diploma as the main asset. Priority is given to proficiency in artificial intelligence tools and the ability to work with big data. This requirement has long extended beyond the IT sector and has become essential for specialists in agriculture, logistics, construction and management. Cross-cultural communication has become a critical skill for any cross-border project. The ability to retrain quickly is valued more highly than a basic set of knowledge.
Kirill Kostin explains the content of these competencies: “Today, international technology companies need a specialist who not only possesses professional expertise but is also capable of working at the intersection of industries, cultures and disciplines. I would include critical and systems thinking among the essential competencies, as well as the ability to analyse information and distinguish facts from interpretations, design solutions taking into account the specific features of a particular country and region, work under conditions of uncertainty and take responsibility for results.”
According to the World Economic Forum, 39 per cent of key skills will become obsolete by 2030. In response, 77 per cent of employers say they are ready to invest in employee upskilling programmes, while 81 per cent are moving towards hiring based on practical competencies rather than formal qualifications.
Fewer than 40 per cent of school graduates and only half of university graduates have gained experience of project-based work during their studies. At the same time, project work is the most effective way to develop the competencies demanded by the modern economy.
Kirill Kostin adds that a new level of digital literacy is also essential: “Cross-cultural communication, teamwork, an understanding of partners’ civilisational characteristics and the competent use of artificial intelligence – including assessment of the social and ethical consequences of its application – should become and are already becoming an essential part of training. An interdisciplinary, and increasingly transdisciplinary, approach to working with students makes it possible to train specialists who are capable not only of adapting to external changes but also of contributing to strengthening their country’s sovereignty and shaping a multipolar future.”
At the same time, demand is
growing for the individualisation of educational pathways. Digital technologies make it possible to provide personalised learning – from choosing the pace of study to forming an individual set of competencies. However, realising this potential requires a paradigm shift: from teaching to a single standard to developing each person’s abilities.
Knowledge of several languages – English, Chinese, Portuguese, Russian, Hindi and Arabic – is becoming a direct route to career opportunities unavailable to monolinguals. The labour market is undergoing a fundamental shift: employers are assessing not formal qualifications, but a specialist’s ability to integrate into international value chains. It is precisely this ability that will determine the competitiveness of individual specialists, corporations and entire economies as integration within BRICS deepens.
Barriers and limitations
A serious analysis requires acknowledgement of the existing barriers. The first is the difference in educational standards. An engineering degree in Russia and India has a different structure, a different number of academic hours and a different accreditation system. The absence of a common qualifications framework remains a serious limitation for a unified labour market.
This is compounded by a problem identified at the global level: 63 per cent of employers cite skills shortages among employees as the main obstacle to digital and organisational transformation. For BRICS countries, this means that the key constraint is not access to knowledge but the speed at which it is updated.
The second barrier is the infrastructure gap. The laboratory facilities of leading universities in developing economies differ by orders of magnitude. Without joint investment in cloud platforms and virtual laboratories, this gap risks becoming entrenched and turning into a structural constraint on integration.
The third challenge is linguistic. For a genuinely unified education space, programmes are needed in Portuguese, Hindi, Chinese, Arabic and Russian. Without this, a common space will remain a project for a narrow English-speaking segment. This is also closely linked to the significant cultural distance between BRICS countries, which requires specific measures to develop cross-cultural competencies.
Financing is becoming a separate challenge. By the mid-2020s, education is facing a new stage of financial pressure: spending per student is declining in OECD countries, international aid is decreasing, and university costs are rising.
Common challenges for BRICS countries also include teacher attrition, the need to support inclusion, linguistic diversity, intercultural dialogue and migrant integration.
Creating a common BRICS education space requires not only political will, but also significant institutional changes: harmonisation of standards, joint financing of infrastructure and the creation of a multilingual educational environment.
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Potential and prospects: education as a framework for integration
By 2030, BRICS’ share of global GDP is expected to exceed 50 per cent. An economy of this scale should be served by its own system for continuously developing human resources. Such a system is already taking shape – through joint laboratories, network programmes, dual degrees and shared research projects.
One of the key indicators of this shift is patent activity. According to
data from the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), China filed 1.795 million patent applications in 2024. India recorded 143,700 applications, an increase of more than 30 per cent. Russia, according to
data from Rospatent for 2025, filed 48,327 applications for inventions and utility models, while the number of patents involved in economic circulation increased by 25 per cent to 6,000. Brazil achieved its best result since 2016 – almost 30,000 applications. A patent is becoming a more valuable asset than a factory: the largest share of added value is generated not at the stage of mass assembly but at the development stage.
The sustainability of this model depends on the state of fundamental science. Universities conducting world-class research perform a dual function: they not only produce knowledge but also train a new generation of specialists through research projects, who subsequently form a new layer of innovators in the economy and social life.
At the same time, a supranational logic in education policy is becoming increasingly pronounced: regions are developing their own long-term education strategies rather than limiting themselves to national frameworks. The most prominent initiatives – the Continental Education Strategy for Africa 2026–2035 and China’s plan to become a leading educational power – aim to deliver systemic changes in their respective regions. BRICS brings together countries participating in both strategic trajectories of education development, creating additional opportunities for coordinating education policy.
The experience of many BRICS countries
confirms that specialist training is most effective when employers are actively involved. This is particularly characteristic of complex and high-value-added sectors such as the space industry, food production and the digital economy.
However, implementation of these
plans involves risks that university strategists divide into external and internal ones. External risks are linked to the pace of growth of the global and national economies. Internal risks are divided into organisational and managerial risks and project-related risks, with the most acute issue being the shortage of highly qualified IT specialists and structures supporting the application of advanced digital technologies. Tools for minimising these threats include improving the efficiency of university management, strengthening financial sustainability and developing an internal expert review system.
The countries of the group possess different scientific schools, resources and industrial competencies. Bringing them together through university networks makes it possible to create not simply a system for training specialists but a mechanism for producing knowledge, technologies and innovations.
Raymond Matlala stresses that BRICS universities should expand joint degree programmes, research partnerships, student mobility and credit recognition systems.
“By working together, they can produce graduates capable of driving innovation, economic growth and sustainable development across the BRICS community,” expert Matlala believes.
The architecture of the global economy in the coming decades will largely depend on how successfully BRICS countries can create a common space for training researchers, engineers and entrepreneurs.
The material was prepared by Vakhit Niyazov.