India’s schools trump Canada’s?
Published by Yazad Jal March 22nd, 2006 in EducationThe Freakonomics blog has an interesting letter from a 10 year old in India.
Hello. I am Rohan Patel, I am 10 years old. Your book was amazing! I loved it, but I found one mistake in it. In the chapter “What Makes A Perfect Parent?” it says that changing schools does not have an impact on the child. This is untrue, as i moved from Canada to India. In India the school system is much harder, when I came here I was way behind. I am emailing my friends and they are behind me, what they learn is very different from what I learn. So changing schools makes a huge impact on the child, I myself am an example of this.
We should be so lucky, so lucky…. Before people start jumping and raving about the Indian school system, two points.
- Rohan most probably goes to one of the best schools in India, most of which are privately run. He’s comparing his Indian school with a Canadian public school. If Rohan went to a government school in India (even the best like what the Mumbai Municipal Corporation runs), I doubt he would be far behind his Canadian friends.
- The real comparision should not be between India and Canada, but between privately run and publicly run schools. In nearly all cases, we’d see the private school doing better, and from Rohan’s letter private schools in “third-world” India seem to be doing better than public schools in “first-world” Canada.
But what of the scores of Indian students studying in government run schools who don’t have the choices Rohan has? A decade ago, I volunteered at a municipal school in Mumbai and was schocked at the poor standard of education and facilities. There was no Parent-Teacher Association, no art or craft classes, no trips to the zoo. And that was supposed to be a better performing school — at least teachers attended class most of the time! We need to change this. And the Centre for Civil Society’s Education Choice Campaign is a good starting point.
18 Responses to “India’s schools trump Canada’s?”
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Excellent Observation, Yaz
Very apt observation Yaz. But I have a small bone to pick: I guess the syllabus followed by private and public schools is the same (there’s no a tremendous difference between the ICSE/”State” syllabus) and so if we’re talking about what Canadian kids and Indian kids of a similar age learn, then I think Indian kids are way ahead?
If you’re referring only to facilities, faculty, etc at schools, then your note is spot on!
BTW, where’d you disappeared?
Spot on Yazad, totally agree its an unfair comparison. And its not just the facilities, but also the effort put in by the teachers etc are a lot better in the Western state schools than it is in the municipal schools of India.
I disagree with Sandeep’s comment. There’s one hell of a lot of difference between State and ICSE education. I know coz I’ve underwent both. The syllabus, the load, and the student profile… everything is very different. Just try the 10th english in ICSE. PB Shelly and Shakespeare… it will bowl you over.
So there is inherently a lot of diff b/w syllabus within India. What makes the whole thing difficult is the student competition - the race for grades, and the push from parents. Add to that the tuition culture. There’s no wonder in what the boy is quoting - assuming he’s in one of the big cities.
Some observations from some one who has gone through what Rohan is going through :
It does leave an impact for sure.
I have studied in seven different schools and two colleges, including good private schools as well as good government run schools (yes there are good government run schools). I have studies in both AC class rooms as well as class rooms that did not have plastered walls.
While I was going through all that, I must admit I found it difficult - learning new languages, changing medium of education etc. Looking back, I can confidently say - it has left a positive impact on my life.
Let me enumerate Positives points of studying in a government school:
- You get groomed for real life,- all sorts of character can be found in government school - no screening based on parents background.
- You learn to adapt to new circumstances, you tend to assume more responsibility for your future. Teachers do not guide you; they just teach you their subject. You take decisions, unbiased.
-Burning the bridges - Nobody discusses the option of going for engineering through donations or a career in music. Single minded pursuit of excellence in your studies is the ONLY thing that you do. Nothing else. Nobody has the money to invest in a music collection or spend time learning guitar.
- You learn to Empathize. You appreciate the resources that you have. What if your bicycle does not have gears on it - not everyone has a new bicycle.
If I had never been to a government school, there is a probability that I might not have slogged enough to get in to REC for my engineering or for my MBA from a A grade institute.
You are right. Elite schools in India are probably among the best in the world, not only for schooling but all sorts of higher education like engineering, medicine, law, management etc. However one must admit that the rote learning system in India creates better informed students - though prima facie it seems that it is a lot of unnecessary knowledge, it gives them a broad view of the world. Your Canadian Rohan’s experience is mirrored by Suketu Mehta in a reverse way in his fantastic book “Maximum City” about Bombay. He went to the US and found himself easily ahead of all his classmates in Maths, though he was considered very weak in the subject in Bombay.
Yazad
My first entry here. This is spot on. Sandeep - it is not true. The ICSE/CBSE curriculum is much better. But the main point is not just the curriculum, public education has suffered due to lack of teachers, facilities. The East Asians particularly Singapore has done much better in this regard.
Hey yazad
imma student at Edmonton Public shool in canada , grade 10, i want to India for Grade 11 and higher studies. Am i doing the right thing or not? I was born in India , and did my education there for grade 5 to 8. Please tell me is it right or no. I am gonna go there but just wanna know if its right or wrong?
HI
I TOTALLY AGREE TO WHAT ROHAN HAS SAID IN HIS STATEMENT.I DO FEEL MYSELF THAT THE ELITE SCHOOLS BACK IN INDIA ARE FAR AHEAD THAN SCHOOLS ELSEWHERE IN WESTERN SETUP.WHAT MAKES THESE SCHOOLS DIFFERENT ARE THE WELL EQUIPPED STAFF AND ADMINISTRATION.ADDED TO IT IS THE EDUCATIONAL CURRICULUM WE HAVE BACK HOME.IN THE BACKDROP OF ALL THIS IF U HAVE THE PRIVILEGE STUDYING IN THESE ELITE SCHOOLS BACK IN INDIA ,UR BOUND TO BE FAR AHEAD THAN UR COUNTERPARTS ELSEWHERE.
Students in independent schools in the UK always do better then government maintained schools. Mainly this is due to the better quality of teachers that Independent schools can afford to hire at better salaries. They also have very strict discipline and usually expel problem kids so that the final batch of school leavers are well above-average.
The state run schools are not permitted to be selective and this reflects in their results.
This is probably coming in way too late, but I agree with Rohan too. I’m a student of the convent school in Mumbai, post which I left for my bachelors in the States. The classes i took, Math, Statistics & History were very easy for me. The syllabus was very similar to the Math I studeid in 8/9th Standard in the SSC board. If the SSC board, which i pressume comes last in difficulty to the other school boards can teach me US college level Maths; I am sure ICSC & CBSC excel in eduation levels as compared to US schools.
Through personal expereince, I’ve known that education in the US/Canada till high school is mostly concentrated on building personality rather than bookish education. In India, creating and influecing student’s personality is never a priority/criteria, bookish eduation rules all the education levels.
This may be the reason why Rohan thinks Indian schools are much tougher! And his Canadian education gave him the confidence to argue the author’s word. (how many of us have questioned what we had to ‘mugg up’ for our boards?)
- i’ve recently found this blog..hope you continue to write…
The problem with comparing Indias schools to schools across Canada is that it completely ignores how the education system works in Canada. Constitutionally, education is administed by the provincial gov’ts, and each province (like a state) has different standards. Unlike in India, the federal gov’t of Canada does not administer any schools anywhere in the country, and has no control over standards. Consequently, the educational standards across Canada vary, and some provinces have significantly higher standards than others. Some Canadians move from one province to another only to be placed several grades higher, others have similar experiences to Rohan and find themselves struggling to catch up with their fellow Canadians. It all depends on what you’re talking about, really.
Actually,the eduation system of Canada is well for canadians.Our education is good for us.so,it is useless to compare both.
fgtdfhbm,.
I think the conclusion you derived is wrong. For the simple fact that all the kid complaint was about Indian schools being too tough compared to Canadian schools.
Unless you wanna conclude:
Being tough = Being good
your conclusion is wrong.
I have been to colleges in India, and US both. Indian schools are killers in terms of sheer competition, but they have nothing much to offer in quality.
Indian colleges bomb in terms of quality and the background of the professors whereas the American public school I am studying in has professors who designed the first x86 machines in IBM, the first popular used compilers, our course books are the same books authored by them, my Dept Chair claims to be the first computer nerd(in the 50s) and he is a NY state licensed lawyer. My other prof can teach you to write viruses after a 30 minutes lecture.
Despite of all these things, the course is very informative, and exams really easy. If you just sit and listen during the lecture there is not even a single piece of paper you need to study in order to write the exam(compared to India where you had to cram the whole book).
On the other hand Indian professors the the worst scum of the Industry you can find. Make no mistake, I did go to a reputable completely private engineering college with lots of money, but every thing still was scum.
Lets say the blog post “India’s schools trump Canada’s?” is the curriculum for the exam, then this is how American question paper would be:
1) Why do you think Rohan finds Indian schools tough?
2) Can toughness of curriculum be a criteria for quality of schools?
3) [Bonus] What is Freakonomics?
Time: 30 min
And this is how the Indian question paper would be:
1) What are the various URLs posted in the blog entry?
2) What are the two points raised by Yazad Jal before the reader is expected to jump and rave at Indian School system?
3) What should be a good starting point to start changing the Indian school system?
4) What was the name of the kid described in this post, and what chapter was he talking about?
5) Which country did that kid came to India from?[sic]
6) Which city did Yazad Jal volunteered in?
7) What is Parent-Teacher association?
8) What are Arts and Craft classes?
9) How old was the kid? What grade do you think he is in?
10) What was the date on which this blog was published on?
Time: 30 min
Now of course Indian question paper is hard to do, but who is doing a better job at testing your actual knowledge. Basically 10 years from now, which will help you more, cramming the date on which the blog was posted, or having an opinion about criteria of a good school??