The US vs Indian Education- A Comparative Study
Education is the process of learning or acquiring knowledge/skills. Education usually takes place under the guidance of educators; however, some people might self-educate. Education can take place in formal or informal but has a formative effect on the way one imagines, feels, or acts may be considered educational. Formal education is commonly divided formally into the following stages:
- preschool or kindergarten
- primary school
- secondary school (SSC)
- higher secondary school ( HSC result 2020 )
- college, university, or apprenticeship
In earlier times, education as mainly imparted to adults to train them in skill. Then came a gurukul system in India in which students stayed with teachers to learn various things. Nowadays, the preschool and primary school (up to class 8) remain almost similar in Indian and US education system for the most part. Secondary school and higher secondary schools in India are two years each whereas in the US there’s the only higher secondary school called High School.
The major difference between Indian and US schooling systems is their emphasis, Indian schools focus mainly on academics and US schools focus a lot on sports and extra-curricular activities. Passing high school in the US is much easier as compared to acing in HSC result 2020 in India. US education system doesn’t give much importance to grades but rather focuses on practical knowledge. Another difference is the class size.
Merits of The US Education System:
Classes in the US consist of no more than 30 students while in India 50-60 students in a single class is the norm. This causes the better teacher to student ratio making it easier for teachers to give individual focus on students. The public schools in the US are well-managed with all necessary amenities, unlike India where government schools are mostly in a bad state. This leads to people leaning towards private schools in India which is not the case in the US. They update their curriculum and teaching methods continuously so as to keep pace with the progress.
Merits of The Indian Education System:
The emphasis given to bookish knowledge in the Indian system leads to students having a better knowledge of subjects like Maths. Grades matter in our education system and in order to get better grades than their peers, students develop a competitive attitude at an early age. Teachers are given a lot of respect in Indian culture as compared to western culture and are respected in India.
Which System is Better?
The US is an economically developed country and their spending on education is much more than India. They have refined their education system over the years to put as little as possible stress on students. Everyone needn’t be an engineer there; you can be a sportsperson and get good grades for that. There’s no mindless rat race to get better grades and study. They want all-around development of their students and not just make them a grading machine.
With that being said, the Indian system isn’t bad in all respects. The students here are better at subjects like maths which require constant practice. Ideally, concepts need to be taught first and then their practical application should be taught at a higher/college level. That’s why we can say that the US has a much better graduation/post-graduation education but their high school students lack knowledge when compared to Indian students.
How to Make Indian Education System Better?
The Indian education system should imbibe the good aspects of the US system while keeping its unique parts intact. The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has done a commendable job in this regard. They revise their curriculum constantly to keep it up-to-date. They have also made the course less hectic while laying emphasis on extracurricular activities. Students can’t be failed in primary school now.
As we have seen, the Indian education system has produced some of the brightest minds of the world. CEOs of even US-based firms are Indians nowadays. This shows that the Indian education system is highly potent. All we need to do now is to incorporate the practices of US schools in our system while keeping the theoretical knowledge part at an earlier level intact. Thus, we can have the best of both worlds and maybe one of the best education systems in the world.