Bengaluru, Feb 10 (IANS): We need to do away with our sub-optimal performance in education if we are to avoid becoming irrelevant in the fast-changing landscape of the jobs market, Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu said on Sunday.

Addressing the students and faculty here at the CMR University, Naidu said: "We need to make good on the demographic dividend of being one of the younger nations on earth, starting with investing in children at the primary education level.

"We are at a juncture in our history where we can't continue with sub-optimal efficiency. We need to focus on quality of education."

There is a mounting concern that future growth could turn out to be jobless due to the fourth industrial revolution and technological progress, he noted.

"The only way to realize this demographic advantage is to educate and skill this energetic youth populace so that they are well prepared to face the challenges of the 21st Century," Naidu said at the university which he was visiting to inaugurate one of its campuses.

The Vice President said that this opportunity -- of being a young nation -- cannot be wasted for want of resources and called for a government and private partnership in the field of education.

Earlier in his speech, stressing India's unique position in the world, Naidu said: "India has a tremendous demographic dividend that is waiting to be realised. In an ageing world, India has one of the youngest populations. By 2020, the median age in India will be just 28, compared to 37 in China and the US, 45 in western Europe and 49 in Japan."