Anyone who has studied in Indian schools and colleges will vouch for the fact that the Indian Education system churn out more engineers, doctors, and MBAs in comparison to any other country in the world. This is partly due to the mentality of Indian parents who believe the sole purpose of educating their children is to find a well-paying job. In India, parents have significant influence and control over the majority of their children’s lives including which school or college they attend, what branch of education their children pursue, and which career path they take up. No doubt this creates a huge pool of educated individuals, but the quality leaves a lot to be desired. Foreign students tend to treat education more like a learning process. On one hand, they choose the path they are interested in and stay with their choice for the rest of their career. In this process, they tend to wait for the right kind of job and don't really consider time as a hindrance. On the other hand, the objective of education in India has more to do with a high salaried job, overseas chances, better marriage prospects, and status in society.
From a very young age it is ingrained in the minds of Indian children that the purpose of education is to attain a respectable job. This creates an impression on the minds of these children which is difficult to correct at a later stage. Individual interest and aptitude towards any vocation is sacrificed in the pursuit of a degree that will prepare them for the highest paying careers. The consequences towards this approach toward education is that in the short term there is a boom in the number of professionals. However, in the long term fields such as research, arts, and other allied areas begin to suffer from a lack of new personnel. This is very dangerous and short sighted for a developing economy like India. This mentality toward education fosters a rat race environment. Students scramble to gain admission to universities with the best reputations straight out of high school. This puts immense pressure on youngsters to perform in subjects which might not necessarily appeal to them resulting in dramatic disappointment when they are unable to perform.
In contrast, foreign education, western education systems in particular, focuses more on individual interests, learning ability, and aptitude towards any vocations. Also unlike India, the social system also supports individual education to a great extent. The purpose of foreign education systems are not to land a job to make a living, but holistic development of individuals. The performance measurement and grading system in foreign countries encourage blooming of individuals talents in diverse fields and does not restrict children to mere classroom studies. This approach is more practical and suited to overall individual development. Hence the focus of foreign education system is creating individuals with a broad outlook towards all aspects that does not limit the purpose of education exclusively to just attaining a high paying career.
Both approaches have their pros and cons. While the Indian education system might create more professionals, it definitely needs to broaden its scope and focus more on creating tomorrow's citizens who can lead the country. The Indian education standard is considerably higher than that of US Standards, as students are made to prepare for challenges in life, unlike the United States where education is made flexible so that each and every student graduates high school. The Indian education system also puts greater emphasis on mathematics compared to the United States where in most majors, high math levels are an optional subject. It is no wonder India has a high number of software engineers and other math-heavy professions. The foreign education system is more liberal in its attitude which can sometime prove counterproductive, especially when children from different educational backgrounds experience it for the first time. If we are to compare both education systems, both have their own merits, but looking at the broader picture all we can say is it is up to the individual. As Mark Twain, once said, "Don't let schooling interfere with your child's education!"
Another difference between both education systems are how and when people can become qualified to teach. Before teachers in United States can qualify to teach, they must possess a Bachelor or Masters Degree in Early Childhood & Elementary education. American teachers also follow a general guideline of what to teach their students and have a pre-planned curriculum. In contrast, teachers in India are qualified to become teachers as soon as they attain a Bachelors or Masters in Education. This Bachelor and Masters degree is equivalent to that of Indian Standards of Education.
What is the meaning of passion in Indian education system? The meaning of passion in Indian education system is quite different when compared to that of American education system. A famous greek philosopher Plato quotes “Do not train a child to learn by force or harshness; but direct them to it by what amuses their minds, so that you may be better able to discover with accuracy the peculiar bent of the genius of each.” I agree with Plato because in India, young children are forced to choose their path of education early in life because they are under the influence of their parents and their teachers. Young students are forced to choose their major or goal in life as they reach high school. In high school, if a student has an average of 70% and below, he or she is forced to change his or her major towards low income jobs such as business and humanities etc. Students with low average in high school are forced to change their passion towards different majors even if it is against their lifelong goal or dream. If a student scores above 70%, he or she is able to choose any major in medical field that will ensure a high paying job in the future. After high school, students have to take an entrance exam and their major will depend on the scores they will receive on that exam. In India, if a student fails a course in high school, he or she is forced to take all the current classes all over again but in America students are given a chance to retake the course and the students are able to pursue their passion.
What is the meaning of success in Indian culture? The meaning of success in Indian culture depends on the persons’ personality, reputation and status in society. Personality of a person depends on whether if he or she dates, parties, drinks, smokes, etc. People who go to parties, date and drink are often looked down upon by the Indian society because the society knows that the person lacks good morals and values. Therefore, his or her reputation suffers due to the fact that the person does not have good values. Benjamin Franklin quotes, “It takes many good deeds to build a good reputation, and only one bad one to lose it.” I agree with Franklin because a person with good reputation will usually have good values who obey his parents and his or her parents are respected all around because of their reputation. A successful Indian person can get married anywhere depending on his or her parents’ consent. A person's status depends on his or her property, job, and living style. Meaning of success in American culture is quite different than Indian culture. In America, a person is successful if he or she is advancing in her life while gaining the little things. Usually, people in America have little needs and they are easily satisfied with what they possess but in Indian culture that is not nearly enough for a person who wants to gain success in his or her life.
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