The education system is an interesting system. It has its perks but it has its flaws too. I started thinking more about it after reading the book; Zero to One by Peter Thiel. I have always questioned the education systems, especially since I have been an Indian who studied the American, British and IB (International Baccalaureate) education systems. I know about the Indian education system through my cousins and friends. There are similarities and vast differences too.

The American system is more application based. The Indian system is more book based. Those are the common assumptions. In the American system, we are taught more about applying and thinking out of the box. Whereas the Indian system is more about memorizing and building a strong foundation. These differences lead to shortcomings for the respective parties. Indians are more about know everything possible about a subject whereas American is more about learn and find something more to add to the subject.

When I was in school, there wasn’t much of a strict demand of knowing your facts, memorizing pages of textbooks, cramming to know everything in the textbook and continuous flow of exams. I used to watch my cousins, cram and study every time I went home for vacation. This was when they were merely in middle school or high school. My closest cousin, I have seen her study so hard in her elementary days that I was shocked to see that I was barely doing anything. The American system is more relaxed than the Indian for sure.

There are problems in both systems. Different problems as well as similar problems with each other. The American system lacks the ability to build a strong foundation about a subject. It’s more about getting the gist of a subject and then learning on your own if you want to dive deeper. Also these days it’s become popular to add technology as a way to teach which can distract more than direct. I have done it personally in high school and wasn’t a big fan of it (given I am more of a writing on paper kind of person).

The Indian system just dives and dives into the subject like there is no tomorrow. They teach their children how to know everything about the subject but in a way where applying seems peculiar to them. You talk to an Indian kid and they will know everything about a subject but if you ask them to create/apply/innovate, it takes them time. There are changes now in the Indian system in terms of technology as well as method of teaching but it’s still behind.There is a lot of rigidity in both the systems and minimal changes/adaptations where there could be a positive balance found. The Indians have the blocks and the Americans have the plans for the building. Both parties need to be able to do both in order to thrive effectively + efficiently. 

Another thing I noticed is that I have been seeing with myself and others is the difficulty to stimulate growth in terms of ideas. We are taught so much by the book and what already has been established that it is difficult to find new ideas to contribute. In today’s world, we are all about start-ups and apps but only few really thrive to the Fortune 500 level in years. Coming up with Good Ideas is hard because we have been taught all these years of great inventions and innovations that have changed the world. That in fact it closes our minds rather than open it up to build better ideas.

Coming up with something new and different is difficult because we don’t know it ourselves until we break through the system. It takes a lot of thinking out of the box, risk and believing in yourself to pursue. It is harder to make people understand something they didn’t know existed or needed than something they do. There are plenty of useless ideas flying around and have a time limit of success tagged on but very little innovative world-changing ideas. In order to break this slugging dilemma, the balance in the systems should be found as well as used in a way to innovate for the betterment of mankind.