When Mr. Barack Obama took over as the President of United states, he put forth education as a high priority sector. He wanted to ensure measurable improvements of American education which can compete with other systems in the globe. During his speech he pointed out that India and China is doing better than US and therefore American need to follow in the similar track of these countries. The educational experts in America also shares the same opinion of Mr. President and says that if US doesn’t give enough attention on the education sector they will fall far behind in the developing countries. We can’t talk here about Chinese system since we are not so exposed to that. But we can certainly debate this from Indian system point of view. As we hear this opinion from US, we do tend to doubt whether any other country called India exists world that we may not have studied in the Social Science Class? Are these Americans talking about the same India we know? These statements obviously confuse our thoughts. We never find something that is so competent in our educational system when compared to US. It is not completely our education structure which makes Indian superior, but our culture and values made it so. Take a look at some differences in Indian and United States Education system.

Indian Vs US System

We are talking about the Global friendship and so this is not a war field. Whit this note, let us look at some difference in the practices of Indian and American Education sector. Normally in the state syllabus followed in India, students start learning English grammar at the Upper Primary level and basically every one covers the Wren & Martin text book for the Grammar portion. We cover the same text for the following classes as well. In the Indian scenario, we have two groups of students, the students who follow the central syllabus and those who follows the state syllabus. For most of the students, English language education starts only at 4th standard onwards. Most of the students learn the Grammar portion with the help of shortcut and fails when it comes to communication.

Our teachers also teach whatever is mentioned in the syllabus or a single text book. In addition to that we lack quality teachers in the same. These differences make the English language an alien for the students. Even the highly professional people in India do not possess a good base in the language.

When it comes to schooling and college, the US government follows a specific system which without any fault. They have a common curriculum and a systematic approach towards the process of learning.  It was clearly a different experience than that of Indian system. They have a culture of individualization and so as in learning also. Each and every person is concentrating on their particular interest, but has a code to be followed. The teachers there also need to do the research work and project same as that of the students. This will help them to update their knowledge in the related area so as to improve their personnel capacity and guide the students properly.

But this is not the case with the Indian teachers. The duty of the Indian teacher is to give assignments and evaluate the exam paper of students. Also they have to take the effort of teaching and also expert in giving punishments, literally. We do respect all our high-quality and expert teachers, but such personnel’s are very few in our country. Our teachers got promotions only because of they have seniority. Here there is nothing to do with the profile, knowledge and involvement of the teacher, except at the entry level.

But when it comes to the research program and other scientific works, the Indian students in America will outperform the native students of America. How this is so possible? The common beliefs of the people there is that it is because of the quality and base of Indian Education system. But the reality is that most of these students who goes abroad for research work will be the best of the best brains in India. For them getting exposure to a new and advanced education system open up a new horizon and force them the out turn their own educational achievements so far.

Then what makes the difference..

Our education system works not because of the quality of schools and faculties we have. The resources and the investment do not contribute the effectiveness of the system. It is our culture and values make the education works in India. India is known for its very old and great culture. The education always receives a great attention and is clearly mentioned in our epics.

We do believe that our primary education starts at home with our parents and we respect our family values and tradition. Our young generation gets this message from the society and family that education is the responsibility of the individuals and not the Government. Only education has the power to make one succeed in life and it is the ultimate source of earning money.

The students help each other in studies and we believe in sharing the information. We are not used to follow a particular methodology in learning. Each one has their own way of studying and these habits help them in the research program. Most of the research works are a self journey through the subject and you are onlyprovided with some directions. So we don’t find any difficulty to do our research works in any other countries. We also learn to adapt any kind of situation from our family and also from the society. That is one of the reasons we Indian are known for our flexibility and adaptive nature.

This is not the case for the American student. They have to follow a complex and consistent system from their childhood onwards and these types of instructions are there in every field.  Therefore, when all of a sudden they are put into the instruction-less system it is very difficult for them to cope with. What America can do is to focus on the cultural aspects rather than spending money on the infrastructure and in the faculty union.

We Indian with our limitations in resources, planning and forecasting can make lot of difference. Because out beliefs are rooted in the  “Bhagavad Gita”, the Holy “Bible” and also “Quran” and so we respect the power of knowledge….