For many Americans, it is difficult to understand the education system, process of education and the culture of education in countries such as India (and China).
While Indian Math Online is based on the principles of mathematics as practiced in the Indian education system, we still have a large contingency of subscribers from within the United States. It is my gut feeling that some of you have limited knowledge on the differences between the American system of education and the Indian system of education.
First, let us acknowledge some of the similarities – both systems have –
· Structured curriculum / syllabus
· Reasonably qualified teachers
· Good labs, facilities and decent infrastructures
· Concept of “private”, “for-profit” and “public schools”
· A willingness on the part of children and parents to get the proper education
While there are some broad similarities, there are significant differences between the two systems (Indian and American). While it would be difficult to write in detail on all the differences, I wanted to highlight a few key differences that would make you think and apply these differences to your particular context.
1. Numerous Standards – In the US system of education, there are different standards throughout the country; each state determines the curriculum and the standardized testing. So practically, we could have 50+ versions of curriculum and standardized testing. Of course, it will be argued as ‘freedom of choice’.
However, imagine the difficulty this must pose to parents and children who have to move from one state to another (for job reasons, for family reasons) – it must be a heavy burden for the parents, children the extended family to keep up with the differences in requirements and expectations among the different states!
What about the situation where a child is performing superbly in the chosen curriculum – does that child have a choice to accelerate his or her learning beyond the AP courses?
Conversely, in India, there are two standards at the national level and typically one standard at the individual state level. These national and state standards are governed (typically) by ‘boards’ of education and follow a consistent pattern of building the curriculum upon prior years of knowledge. Students, parents and teachers know what is expected of them, and strive everyday to meet those goals.
2. Role of the Family, Teachers/Tutors and Society - As explained on the Indian Math Online’s page “Principles Guiding IMO”, Indian families take education very seriously and believe that a solid education is the key to success in life. While many American families certainly share the same sentiments, it has often been discussed that the American education system is designed according to maintaining students’ high self-esteem. Therefore, nearly everyone in the class will pass so long as ‘feelings’ aren’t hurt and the teacher is not looked upon as doing an inefficient job in his/her classroom; regardless of what the actual students’ proficiency levels are in that subject area. Instead of pushing the students harder to achieve beyond their current potential, teachers often “dumb down” the subject material to ensure that students’ grades remain high.
On the other hand, most Indian children fear failure in the classroom and push themselves to work harder and longer, thus maximizing their fullest potential by being self-motivated. This is also true of their parents and teachers, as school administrators pride themselves on being able to recruit new batches of students based on the academic achievements of outgoing classes.
Sumit Gupta, a former post-doctoral researcher in computer science at the University of California, Irvine, who is now a senior product manager at NVIDIA, a world leader in visual computing technologies, supports this line of thought. His findings show that at the end of many American’s first year of college, they are just at the equivalent level to high school graduates in India in terms of math study. He says that the Indian emphasis on math and engineering programs in high schools is why India produces so many good software engineers. Gupta has studied in both India and the U.S. and you can read more of his impressions of the Indian versus American education system in this article.
3. Trained/Certified teachers - In India, experts feel that for someone to become a good teacher, face-to-face guidance from experts is essential. With this, the Parliament of India set up a resolution in 1995 with the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) and gave it statutory powers for framing regulations and norms for maintaining standards of teacher education in the country. Since the NCTE has been given a broad mandate with legal powers for improving the quality of teacher education and preventing commercialization, its functions have had direct bearing on teacher certification.
As mentioned in a previous blog post, in India it is very common for teachers at all level (primary through high school) to have obtained advanced degrees and to have spent 6-10 additional years acquiring more education after receiving their undergraduate degree. In addition, teachers needed to be specifically trained in a particular subject area so that they are “experts” in that subject when teaching to others.
In the United States, according to the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) which went into effect during 2002-03, teachers who teach core academic subjects are required to be “highly qualified.” The law defines a highly qualified teacher as an individual who:
· Has obtained full state certification;
· Holds a license to teach in the state;
· Has not had certification or licensure requirements waived on an emergency, temporary or provisional basis.
· In addition, there are requirements for demonstrating subject-matter knowledge that vary depending on what grade level an individual is teaching, and whether he/she is new to teaching or is a veteran teacher.
The "highly qualified" teacher requirements do not apply to all individuals, such as supplemental service providers and charter school teachers, who teach public school students. It is common that para-professionals are not being provided with the range of options necessary to demonstrate that they are qualified, nor the financial support necessary to meet the requirements. Often in private school settings, teachers are exempt from needing to be fully licensed or are given a few years leeway to obtain their license. Therefore there is a vast difference in being “highly qualified” in India, than in the United States.
4. Curriculum builds on each year – As part of the 2 Million Minutes (a documentary film on the state of Global Education produced by co-founder Bob Compton) project we have done an extensive deep dive into the Indian education curriculum and compared it to a typical curriculum in US. For example, the curriculum for grade 9, in India, builds on the things a student learned in grade 8. Our analyses indicate that this is not necessarily true in the US curriculum.
5. Extra-curricular activities – In America, parents and school systems place a strong emphasis on extra-curricular activities and pour vast amounts of funding and resources into giving their children and students the best experiences in athletics, fine arts and social clubs. While these extra-curricular activities are necessary, however, in India, the focus remains on academics, as Indian parents, teachers and administrators realize that it is by getting good grades and high scores on tests, that children will go on to becoming successful adults. Instead of investing in private athletic coaches or additional gym time, Indian parents place the priority on investing in tutors to accelerate their child’s learning. Tutors are used to help their children excel in a subject area, not just for remedial work.