Communications of the ACM
China's Aiming for College Excellence, India for Quotas
Credit: Annual Status of Education Report
Ten years ago, India was seen as a potential superpower, capable of combating the rise of China. Today China has risen so fast that it challenges the techno-military might of the United States. India is too far behind to matter.
The main reason is India's dismal educational system, producing unemployable college graduates and schoolchildren close to functional illiteracy. The latest Annual Status of Education Report reveals that barely 50% of children in Class 5 and 73% in Class 8 can read a Class 2 text. Only 44% of Class 8 children can do simple division. How can such a country become a superpower?
Ten years ago, China was still exporting mainly labor-intensive items made in factories employing thousands of workers at low wages. India at the time had emerged as a formidable exporter of computer software, ahead of China in this high-tech area.
Today, China has not just surged ahead of India but created hi-tech world champions. India meanwhile has not produced a single global champion or become a global power in a single new field in the last decade.
From The Times of India
View Full Article
No entries found