China is a South Asian country, sharing borders with 14 countries including India. Governed by the Communist Party of China (CPC) since 1949, it has rapidly transformed into a global manufacturing hub and technological leader. Its significance lies in its economic rise in the region and hegemonic influence over smaller countries through loans and the Belt and Road Initiative.
As the epicenter of COVID-19, China faced global scrutiny over its pandemic response. Its strict zero-COVID policy and economic slowdowns have affected global markets, while trade disputes and technological restrictions with the US, EU, and India continue to shape its global relations.
China’s foreign policy is marked by its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), expanding influence through infrastructure projects, and territorial disputes, particularly in the South China Sea, Taiwan Strait, and along the India-China border. It fought a war with India in 1962 over Aksai Chin, and tensions persist along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), most recent being the Galwan Valley clash in 2020.
Nothing has changed in the Indian education system over the decades. A system that focuses on elimination rather than on empowerment is bound to disappoint the young aspirants. Many who claim success in such a system find themselves not fit to be employed, as the “rote” process has numbed the basic elements of their learning and intellect.
As a country… the glorification of some professions as elitist and others for “duffers” is causing more harm than good. And so the private colleges, coaching classes with exorbitant tuition fees backed by the government mandarins, paint rosy pictures of this “elitist” professions which is not everyone’s cup of tea or coffee.
Most importantly until the Indian society eschews the dignity of labour the possibility of reforming the education system with equal opportunity of employment will remain a pipe dream.
The Indian academics is a failed project because of its inherent bad design. Our Academic programme, right from the very beginning of school years, is designed by bourgeois and ruling class snobs. Our education syllabus is designed for enlightenment, not empowerment. And it is very conservative in approach. Even in properly governed and affordable schools/ colleges students feel bored and tired. Those who do well will do well anywhere. The things which are meant to be studied must have some relevance or immediately useful for the pupil, otherwise it becomes a rut, an anaesthetic for numbness.
For instance, no student likes to attend prayers for even a single minute, teaching sanskrit and poems to even graduates is a worthless exercise and frustratingly idiotic (these are things of passion, not prescription). Two good World War movies can teach history better than whole worthless history course about wars. Our early minds are taught lofty ideals of Constitution and moral lessons which are things to be experienced firsthand, not learned second hand—are educated people morally superior, are they better at making friends, controlling anger, or less corrupt? And even after that we don’t even know the difference between a criminal case and a civil case; and don’t know that we cannot be arrested without a warrant.
Our education system must be designed to suit our needs and to promote scientific temperament, to make us more skilful and employable, not adorable.
Dear SG, The analysis is very good, but why are you offering draconian solutions like the one in China? Ours is a democratic system, changes will be slower but permanent. Here the sokytiin will be different, in fact it is already here, the AAP education model. AAP has turned around the government schools. You should have been the first to recognize it and write about it. Why New York Times has to recognize it. Since Modi came to power, many Indians got enamoured with his power and agilty to take even hard decisions, but miss the point that he is completely anti-democratic. Some of his decisions like demonetization have created havoc, but how many journos wrote about it. Why misuse the power of ED, CBI, IT against anybody who opposes BJP?
Your diagnosis is correct but your solution is wrong. To say that when you will implement this we would have unicorns farting rainbows is incredibily shortsighted. First of all Indian school educationsystem in India is shoddy. If you say that this is because of lack of investment then you are again wrong. Private school teachers in tier 2 cities and towns are paid less than government schools yet they achieve better outcomes. The window is broken because we have voluntarily made things only about marks. On top many of your socialist compatriots have instituted high taxes on entrepreneur. These coaching classes are capitalistic free markets and the solutions are regulations not overregulations
Excellent article. Fix the basics of primary and secondary education, then the coaching industry will self destruct. But this will also require breaking the myth of IITians and ex AIIMS making a lot of money which is not true. Statistics about the employment and salary of IITians and ex AIIMS after passing out must be surveyed and put in public domain. India needs a lot more than just engineers and doctors.
I some one start selling… Human milk we have to out rightly ban it…. In no way you can sell and buy human milk and human blood… In the same way praying on the misery of jobless youth…. And extracting profit from them… Draining them emotionally and financially…. Should stop????
Really puzzling that such a anti market solution is being proposed by free market proponent Shekar Gupta Sir