Education Harder in India or US?

Hi! Whenever I talk to my parents, they keep telling how much harder I'd have to work if I was studying in India at this point. Especially since I was in 10th grade last year they kept saying how hard ppl have to work in India. As long as I remember in India when my sis and I were studying there, all we did was memorize all the answers and study the text book and you'd pass the exam. So I always thought its harder in American high schools especially in the Honors and AP classes that I took because u always have to think outside the box and have a lot of critical thinking to do and stuff so its not fair saying that its harder in India. its only more competitive..all my friends and family in 10th grade got above a 90% so doesn't it clearly say that its not very challenging to the students.

Here is the same situation. Everyone keep telling that Indian education is harder, but in india during the exam when a question is asked, you need to put down the exact same wordings of what book says if not your marks will be cut down and here if you try to do the same thing they will say that you have copied from the book and they encourage to you use your thinking and explain in ur own words so that you can have a better understanding and by that you remember the stuff even after ur course is over. and In the science, especially biology, we here get worksheet and never have to draw any diagrams, but for my parents here its pretty easy as we dont have to draw anything.. while i think in india people are so busy in drawing that many just trace stuff from the book and spend most of their timings in drawing rather than knowing the parts and their functions. Here learning skills are shaped rather than creativity and drawing skills.. which saves a lot of time. And lastly as you said, 60% is a first class up there where as you need 90% here, pluz ofcourse there are always many projects, presentations and research you have to do here which I am not sure we do much back in india.

there are distinct differences in indian and american education styles.in india...the hardship does not lie in content of the education but in

1) extreme competition....getting in a school or college is a struggle(there are parental interviews, donations, written/oral tests.....) and to survive you need to excel (get around 90%+ marks). being average just does not cut it....on the top of it education is typically very expensive(think private schools in US) which is a burden for most parents. most students start preparing for thier college life around 8th/9th grade. also unless you are an engineer or a doctor , you are effectively nobody or a failure for most part(unless you have an inheritance to fall back on or have by stroke of luck made it big in an unconventional proffession). this puts a tremendous pressure on students, there are often news of students trying to commit suicide when they fail (it was quite common in iits one of the top ranking engineering colleges in india......blame it on that idea of success drummed into them from birth and extreme stress).in us , the grading system and adding curves reduce the stress somehow(atleast you are not haggling over one mark)

2) corruption......in colleges a huge number of seats fall in reserved quota(an alien concept in american universities). when i was a student....there were thirty seats to get in masters in computers program....almost 18-20 of them were in reserved in some quota. there was an all india written competition for rest 10-12 seats. while most general candidates scored 90%+ in competition to be considered, the candidates from reserved quota's got in with -20% marks(the competition had negative marking).this should give you some idea how tough/unfair it is to get in a good education program.

3) the generalised program.....as you mentioned that you should mug the content to pass...unfortunately most students find that a hard prospect, there is therefore no growth and thinking out of box encouraged.also no spill over among different streams is allowed. in us universities you have the option of taking an accounting paper even if you are a science student (which gives you more generalised education). in india it is all about specialization. also geeks rule.....the only measure of success is your academic success and the job you get , little or no points are given to extracarricular activities(unlike in usa). my 3 year old nephew knows more academically than my five year old daughter. so you can imagine academic standard.

well i think to get by in life you need to be a well rounded person, and the US focuses on that more than india, in india its all about your academic achievement, not how well you play kabadi. (unless your sachin tendulkar playing cricket) your talent in extra curricular activities is always undermined, and some kids are much better at academics than extra curricular activities, and vise versa. The problem is that the percentage that are better in extra curricular activities do not make it to the top colleges in india that only look at grades and judge students based on what academic achievements they've made rather than how many cricket matches they've won.

My parents had sent me to india for studies from k-2nd grade, and when i came back to the U.S i had learned more academically than any other students in my class, but i lacked the "thinking outside of the box" quality, and wasnt very good when it came to non-academic things such as chorus and sports. I got much better later on (i'm the basketball team captain) but my point being that if a student from india who has graduated high school will easily get into college abroad, but if a student who has stayed their entire life abroad then they have minimal chances of getting into a good college in india. (unless they buy their way into the college)

wow, this is one of the most important topics ever. Thanks for bringing it up.

I was born in India and went to school until 6th and started 6th in USA.
Primary education is easy in USA compared to India since they forcus more on develeopment, since these happy innocent moments will not come back in life. Also, in India they are so preoccupied with competition that it is very hard for the kids to get the feeling of fun except cricket and on weekends they are being tutored. True, they do memorize answers and then just write them, so it is all a memorization game. In the USA, that policy is completely opposite, since I will not remember what Chanakya taught after five years since I memorized it. By learning it, I remember it and absorb it.

Seconday Education in India is torture and in USA it is not that easy as well. USA might allow the usage of new tech items, such as calculators and computers, but the classes itself are not that easy, esp. Honors and AP, these classes are made for those people who are capable of handling hard work and are welcoming the challenging load work. In India, there is no choice, since if you want to be a doctor, you have to study the same courses as other wannbe doc..

Also, your entire life depends on two numbers after SSC or 10th grade exams. If you do not perform well, your life if doomed, esp. if you are from a middle-class family, rich people then have to pay 5-15 lakh Rs. in donation alone to the college.

In USA, there is competition but also opportunity to be what you want.

Originally posted by: shriman

Seconday Education in India is torture and in USA it is not that easy as well. USA might allow the usage of new tech items, such as calculators and computers, but the classes itself are not that easy, esp. Honors and AP, these classes are made for those people who are capable of handling hard work and are welcoming the challenging load work. In India, there is no choice, since if you want to be a doctor, you have to study the same courses as other wannbe doc..

I'm a little scared about high school now😕.

It's true that in India, they make you memorize everthing or almost everything, but I don't think you learn it. For example, cell division. In India you have to memorize the phases. But in USA, you memorize, draw, and learn what happens in each stage of cell division. You won't remember everything you memorize.

NO NEED TO WORRY PixieDust91

High School here in USA is not that bad... no need to worry

Thanks, that cooled me down. My cousin keeps annoying me saying "high school is so hard!" and "its nothing like middle school." and plus, i came across this topic so I got a little freaked out. Now i'm cool...

i think high schools in canada and the us are easier on their students. in pakistan, (i'm not sure about india), the students get hw during the summer holidays, and the teachers are a lot more strict. The reason my dad decided to move to canada was because it had better education..o n to get a way from the "susural" 😆

Studies in India are really tough. Seven or Eight yrs old kid who should be just playing around have to carry such heavy books & bags?

The situation is even worse for those in high school & senior-secondary. We have to pass these All-India Board Examinations & dat determines if we get into a good college or not. In-fact a few students have also commited SUICIDE when they didn't get good marks in these exams