Opinions are divided on whether the Indian education system is good or bad. Recently, there was an interesting discussion on CNBC TV about whether the education system in India is improving than the one we have in the United States. According to one participant, Bob Compton, the executive producer of the documentary “Two Million Minutes,” American schools are losing their edge. According to him, Indian and Chinese students are better both in terms of quality of education and creativity. The curriculum of Indian universities is almost the same as that of American universities.
Bob had recruited Indian students for a group of six American IT companies, and according to him, he got the best talent from India. These were high-tech, high-wage jobs. There were more than 200 openings at these companies in the United States for computer programmers, and salaries for these positions ranged from $ 100,000 to $ 200,000. Bob was unable to find suitable candidates in the United States for nearly six months, prompting him to go abroad to be hired.
However, Jay Mathews, the Washington Post education reporter, had different views. According to him, there is a small portion of Indian and Chinese technical schools that provide quality higher education. He said American schools are as good as educational institutions anywhere else in the world, and only the bottom 30% of American schools in rural and urban areas are in trouble. According to him, nearly 40% of US high school students don’t take science classes beyond biology.
According to Jay, the political system in China and the social system in India generally discourage creativity. During this discussion, Bob asked Jay when was the last time he visited India or China. Jay replied that it was more than 20 years ago. Bob was quick to point out that things had radically changed since then. “The image is completely different from what it used to be 20 years ago,” Bob said. At present, the educational system in India is superior to that of the United States, and the Indian system is producing four times as many students at the K-12 level compared to the United States.
High number of students with quality education
In the United States, the number of students at the K-12 level is around 53 million, while this number reaches 212 million in India. So Bob concluded that hundreds of thousands of Indian students are getting a better education and improving their cognitive skills. According to him, the dropout rate for Indian students is roughly the same as that of the United States. According to Bob, he was able to recruit the best talent from India. These candidates were more creative and educated compared to the candidates available in the US.
Even if we think that Bob’s perception of the Indian education system is based on a small portion of students, especially those from IIT and IIM etc., we cannot deny the fact that the Indian education system is constantly improving. Today, India competes with the best educational systems in the world. However, much remains to be done to improve the level of education in Indian educational establishments “different” from the best universities.
