Education in India

Delta Winds: A Magazine of Student Essays
A Publication of San Joaquin Delta College
2007

Education in India

Ranvir Singh Khatkar

One of the greatest advantages that India has over any other country is the way that the government has established its educational system. India's strict policies regarding higher education have enabled the country to produce the finest doctors, mathematicians, engineers and scientists in the world. One of the factors contributing to this success is the instructors and how they dictate their classrooms. Limiting student choices until they get into college is another characteristic of this successful school system. The manner in which the colleges are set up helps individual students to pursue their life goals. Because the educational system is so strict in India, students succeed regardless of their social class.

Unlike instructors in western society, instructors from India are given full authority of how they would like to run their classes. Parents of a child in India will never object to the way a teacher instructs or disciplines their child. An insubordinate child is dealt with in a way that is viewed as "uncivilized" in most other countries. If a child were to misbehave, depending on the situation, an instructor would physically hit the child to instill fear. Naturally nobody likes to get a beating, so the troublesome child will quickly change. My mother once had to hold a heavy book in her hands with her arms stretched out for coming to class late. Because of the humiliation my mother went through, she made sure to leave home twenty minutes early for the rest of her childhood. It is with the best intention that instructors in India control their classrooms with an iron fist. These creative disciplinary actions help the students more than hurt them.

Between the start of school and the start of college, students are not given many choices. Basically, it's like the military; the school will train students to become elite in a strict regiment. Students must wear uniforms to school everyday. The fact that uniforms are mandatory helps ensure that student-focus is on the books, not on another kid's shirt. There are no classes called "electives" in India. All of the classes are comprehensive to help students grow mentally. Instructors teach several languages as early as the first years in grade school. Time is not wasted on irrelevant classes. Ultimately, this keeps a student fully focused on what is being taught. Limiting the choices of students until they get into college helps to develop good study habits.

There are many colleges in India that help students become what they desire to be as working professionals. There are no such things as trade schools in India, only universities and colleges. Many are still all-girl or all-boy campuses that share a common goal: to provide optimal education. At the end of grade school most students apply to colleges that emphasize particular interests. One city can have five major universities blocks apart, yet they all focus in on a particular subject. Because students have satisfied the general knowledge courses in grade school, they now waste no time in learning a specialty. Because colleges are not a repeat of grade school, students learn what they really need to learn in order to be the best at their jobs. Colleges and universities in India provide excellent learning opportunities for students to concentrate on specific majors.

Unlike other school systems in the world, India has a very dedicated and strict program aimed at helping students to become the best at their professions. Ruthless teachers become gods in the eyes of the children when they mature inside of a classroom. Depriving students of decision making proves to be beneficial in the long run. Colleges that specialize in a major help the students gain valuable information that would otherwise be forgotten in another type of college. Altogether the strict educational system pays off because India continues to provide the rest of the world with the best professionals ever.