I have taken early retirement and returned to India about 3 years back.
After living in India for nearly 3 years I am now convinced that it makes much more
sense to r2i than settle in USA.
The main reason I feel is the quality of education in India.
The standard of education in India is really top class and improving everyday.
The education system in USA is really below standard. Also with percentage of
hispanic population increasing and cost cuts in education budget I think the education
standard in USA will decline even further.
So kids growing up in India will have a significant advantage.
the most important reason to r2i
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clarence123
- Posts: 56
- Joined: Wed Apr 13, 2011 1:26 am
the most important reason to r2i
Thank you for sharing your experience.
Can you be bit specific about which syllabus your kid's are going thru ? (CBSE, Matriculation or state board etc..)
1)What I am really worried about is -- kids being forced to memorize the text book and then write ditto in the answer paper because they know the teacher who is evaluating is not looking for any creative way of answering the question or writing the anwer in your own perspective.. They expect the answer to be in exact replica of text book.. Do you think, this is changing now ?
2) Are the kids still being driven towards "high marks" ? I see that on the 10th grade (tamil nadu), 496/500 is the top mark and people are getting 100/100 in even Tamil paper. Is this even possible ? It is only possible if you print exactly what you see in text book. My parents are teachers (retired now) so I know how they evaluated and how they drove me crazy to get the marks as well as getting top rank ? If I don't get top 3 ranks, I will be constantly reminded about it until the next report card comes out. Is this system changing ? I feel the US system is much better here. You will have to see their assessment report card even for Kindergarten and you will be amazed how many ways they are truly evaluating a student. If they say "Progressing" or "Exceeding", it does have a true value.
How many Universities in India are really with International levels or ranking ? Speaking of IIT and IIM is enough. Do we have anything else ?
Cost of Education in India.. Enough talked about it..
Please don't take me wrong here as I am trying to say negative things about Indian system.. I am just trying to get your experience on these areas.. Whether things have improved or not, I am anyway doing R2I as my driving force is different.
Can you be bit specific about which syllabus your kid's are going thru ? (CBSE, Matriculation or state board etc..)
1)What I am really worried about is -- kids being forced to memorize the text book and then write ditto in the answer paper because they know the teacher who is evaluating is not looking for any creative way of answering the question or writing the anwer in your own perspective.. They expect the answer to be in exact replica of text book.. Do you think, this is changing now ?
2) Are the kids still being driven towards "high marks" ? I see that on the 10th grade (tamil nadu), 496/500 is the top mark and people are getting 100/100 in even Tamil paper. Is this even possible ? It is only possible if you print exactly what you see in text book. My parents are teachers (retired now) so I know how they evaluated and how they drove me crazy to get the marks as well as getting top rank ? If I don't get top 3 ranks, I will be constantly reminded about it until the next report card comes out. Is this system changing ? I feel the US system is much better here. You will have to see their assessment report card even for Kindergarten and you will be amazed how many ways they are truly evaluating a student. If they say "Progressing" or "Exceeding", it does have a true value.
How many Universities in India are really with International levels or ranking ? Speaking of IIT and IIM is enough. Do we have anything else ?
Cost of Education in India.. Enough talked about it..
Please don't take me wrong here as I am trying to say negative things about Indian system.. I am just trying to get your experience on these areas.. Whether things have improved or not, I am anyway doing R2I as my driving force is different.
the most important reason to r2i
Sorry to say, but you have presented a very skewed view of the US education system. Can you provide the rationale behind your statement. I think that the current Indian education system from school to college does little to foster innovation and individual creativity. It is still very focused on just getting high grades etc. This statement is based on my two year of continuous professional interaction with young software engineers from different institutes, all tiers included. The young software engineers in India are hard working, but don't try enough to master their craft and neither are willing to take too many risks by trying new things.
katobhuti;395020I have taken early retirement and returned to India about 3 years back.
After living in India for nearly 3 years I am now convinced that it makes much more
sense to r2i than settle in USA.
The main reason I feel is the quality of education in India.
The standard of education in India is really top class and improving everyday.
The education system in USA is really below standard. Also with percentage of
hispanic population increasing and cost cuts in education budget I think the education
standard in USA will decline even further.
So kids growing up in India will have a significant advantage.
the most important reason to r2i
Lots of memorizing is good for growing children. Many systems have shown how useful this is: Japan, Taiwan, India(private schools), Israel & several Jewish schools in USA have demo'd this. In India, innovative thinking can be taught at home. IMO, if parents have a choice, and could be in a good schl. dist., then, they should stay out of desh.
the most important reason to r2i
So kato, I disagree!
I have always experienced and maintained that the Indian educational system is geared to produce worker-bees and strong individual contributors.
Important life skills like relationship building, public speaking, strong communication skills, leadership orientation, critical thinking and general out of the box creativity are less or not at all important in the Indian education model.
There was an WSJ article recently which said that there is an educated work force in India which is large but a bulk of it is not qualified for the rigors of international business.
Now before I get chewed down, I will say there are exceptions. We have the IITs and IIM's the factories of brilliance. We have international schools springing up in every nook, so I am sure things must be changing.
But it will be long time before even a sliver of the Indian educational machinery gets to even international standards.
I have always experienced and maintained that the Indian educational system is geared to produce worker-bees and strong individual contributors.
Important life skills like relationship building, public speaking, strong communication skills, leadership orientation, critical thinking and general out of the box creativity are less or not at all important in the Indian education model.
There was an WSJ article recently which said that there is an educated work force in India which is large but a bulk of it is not qualified for the rigors of international business.
Now before I get chewed down, I will say there are exceptions. We have the IITs and IIM's the factories of brilliance. We have international schools springing up in every nook, so I am sure things must be changing.
But it will be long time before even a sliver of the Indian educational machinery gets to even international standards.
the most important reason to r2i
There has been dramatic transformation in India over last 10 years or so and the
changes ahead will be even faster.
I have interacted with kids of all age group starting from about 3 years to 18 years (kids of relatives,
friends etc). This is what I have noticed. The kids are much more advanced than my times ( I think by
almost 1-2 years).
The education system is also undergoing significant changes. The quality of books etc are extraordinary.
But most important is the high level of competition.
Definitely due to the competition it can be very tough on the kids. But I feel if the kids studies hard
during the early formative years it will give them very strong foundation which will propel them
in future life.
Just a simple test for parents settled in USA. Check the math, science and english knowledge level
of a kid in India of same age as your kid when you visit India next time.
changes ahead will be even faster.
I have interacted with kids of all age group starting from about 3 years to 18 years (kids of relatives,
friends etc). This is what I have noticed. The kids are much more advanced than my times ( I think by
almost 1-2 years).
The education system is also undergoing significant changes. The quality of books etc are extraordinary.
But most important is the high level of competition.
Definitely due to the competition it can be very tough on the kids. But I feel if the kids studies hard
during the early formative years it will give them very strong foundation which will propel them
in future life.
Just a simple test for parents settled in USA. Check the math, science and english knowledge level
of a kid in India of same age as your kid when you visit India next time.
the most important reason to r2i
katobhuti;395238There has been dramatic transformation in India over last 10 years or so and the
changes ahead will be even faster.
I have interacted with kids of all age group starting from about 3 years to 18 years (kids of relatives,
friends etc). This is what I have noticed. The kids are much more advanced than my times ( I think by
almost 1-2 years).
The education system is also undergoing significant changes. The quality of books etc are extraordinary.
But most important is the high level of competition.
Definitely due to the competition it can be very tough on the kids. But I feel if the kids studies hard
during the early formative years it will give them very strong foundation which will propel them
in future life.
Just a simple test for parents settled in USA. Check the math, science and english knowledge level
of a kid in India of same age as your kid when you visit India next time.
I disagree with katobhuti's opinion. The level of competition in india is ridiculous and kids have been put through undue stress starting from kindergarden. A second grader in a CBSE school in india carries almost 7 kgs worth of books to school everyday, i mean that's crazy. To get into a Medical school anything less than 99% won't be enough. Many schools are starting to realize this and have advertised no exams till 5th grade and even the CBSE board is planning to get rid of the 10th board exams to reduce the stress on the kids.
There have high number suicides repoted among students everyday, it even happens to some IITians and BITS pilanis. So it's very clear that the system has to change and make the education more enjoyable for students.
The advantage is ofcourse the high level of competition and standard of the students who are able to withstand the pressures but the big question is how many kids are able to go through the stress and succeed?