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Addressing a town hall meeting at Costa Mesa in California on Wednesday, Obama emphasised on the need to raise the standards of education and put more efforts in education, which he had been stressing upon since his election campaign days.
"It can't just be a single high-stakes standardised test -- but we do need to have strong, powerful measures of performance, because schools are like anything else," Obama said.
"We can't afford our kids to be mediocre at a time when they're competing against kids in China and India who are actually in school about a month longer than our kids," he said.
"So there's a whole bunch of reforms that we're going to have to do," he added.
He said that this is not the job of teachers alone and parents too have an important role to play in this regard.
"You can't put the entire burden on a teacher. If you're not making sure your child does their homework, if you're not reading to them, instilling a sense of excellence and a thirst for knowledge in them, then they're not going to do very well, no matter how good your teacher is," he said.
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Contd...: My mom use to ask me when I was a kid “Do you want to enjoy now and struggle latter or do hard work now and enjoy latter?” If you think you live 70 years, 20 years solid learning age and remaining 50 years to spend whatever way you want with the knowledge you learned. I believe SUCCESS IS SWEET and ITS SECRETE IS SWEAT (Hard work). I like US education system in building creativity in the children minds and facilities provided and dignity of labor, and Indian education system in hardworking, giving respect, and parenting. Little care will bring lot of change in kids mind. I hope, I presented basic aspect here, there are many debatable issues. Somebody needs to do research in much more detailed level to come up with conclusions.
There is a good and bad in all education system, that is the not discussion point. We have to take good from other education system while comparing with ours. Mr.Obama did same and mentioned in his speech. Education system means not just school and college. It is total learning environment provided to kids by society. It may be school, teacher, home, parents, education, technology, etc.It is human tendency to take easy path when there is an option. I am not going to talk exceptions. In developed countries education system (including teachers, parents) will not force student to study. They think kid will do better when he/she come up with as per his/her interest. That is true in ideal situations. But most of the kids, as I mentioned they prefer to take easy path when there is an option. It may or may not lead him/her great/happy position. My mom use to ask me when I was a kid “Do you want to enjoy now and struggle latter or do hard work now and enjoy latter?” If you think you live
President Obama is mistaken about present education system which is patterned after Western system. The original education system was long since abandoned because our educationists themselves were reared in Western system of education and the philosophy behind and, except for a few of them have a very poor view of it. It is India's strong CULTURAL FOUNDATION that forms the bedrock of discipline of our young which is rooted in sound family values. The American education system, arguably, started suffering when the society began to renege on cherishing its traditionally evolved culture and social values, leading to shattered families and neglect of the children. Quite unfortunately, the Indian society has started rapidly sliding on the cultural rating scale, with politicians and non-governmental organizations pulling down the cultural foundations by recommending values of promicuous living that threaten the moral and social order.Yet, strangely, positive demographic trends are forecas
Indian Kids all over the world can be proud to hear the evaluation of American President Barack Obama comparing their educational qualities to that of American kids. Not to get more head weight by hearing this. They have to keep the grade with more dedication and hard work. Congratulations to those who have shown their quality and made Mr. Obama to comment like this.
we are proud that our education
"It can't just be a single high-stakes standardised test" says Mr. Obama of the US education. But what else is Indian education, other than the Class 12 test and the CET?As someone who did NOT thrive in the Indian educational system, having slight ADD and absolutely no recourse from school or parents (they just did not understand it and neither did I at that time), I found my salvation in the US system, even completing a masters.The US devotes huge resources to failing students. What does India do? They just let them drop out!The smart kids in India or the US will succeed anyway. The true measure of the system is how it helps the marginals. The biggest failing of the US system is not the system itself but the society and the utter irresponsibility of some parents.Even in the wealthy suburb I live in, parents rather spend on sports rather than maths and science tuition whose classes are mostly filled with Indians and Chinese. Therefore these kids do better in school.
This is seriously very bad.... Indian Education System has been made keeping the Indian Society in mind.... In India a person is successful if he/she is Engineer, Doctor, MBA.... Rest all fields are those for the losers.... In US this is not the case and US should never encourage this mentality of Indian Education System to come to US.... If this is the case it will be very bad.... I am glad my children are studying in US and they can become what they want to become and not what the society wants them to become.... Here no one cares about that.... My boss is a Banking Technical Expert while his son is a Sky Diver Instructor... And still everyone is proud of him.... I wish this mentality would have been present in India but this will never happen.... I am really glad that my children are not suffering in the Indian Eduation System...
Indian children work hard as there is no social security or dole /welfare programme to fall back on. No job means -- no money! BTW India also has a high proportion of child labourers who don't get the chance to go to school at all....
Due to an overdose of information and less of free time for themselves Indian students have started to become like robots. Their parents have become zombies assisting their wards in doing their homework, projects and assignments. They do not have time for anything other than helping their wards in their studies and looking after their welfare. It is not a healthy development. Obama need not copy this just in the name of meeting competition. Enough that Indian students are punished. Let at least American students breathe freely.
IT IS THE FAMILY SYSTEM WHERE PARENTS SACRIFICE THEIR LIFE FOR THEIR KIDS, THAT PRODUCES BRILLIANT INDIAN YOUNGSTERS
Ohh ya.. exactly.... The entire life of parents goes in full tension that how his son who is not so good in studies will become engineer / MBA and will earn so much money.... And the son who wanted to become a Footballer and play like Baichung Bhutia has finally become a Software Engineer thanks to his parents and he has also got a job in IT company.... Now the dream to become a Footballer is long gone and he can only watch EPL and UEFA on TV... He is now doing the job which he has to forcefully do as he has no other option of doing anything else and he has to feed his family.... And he will continue to do that and will become a parent who has done a lot of sacrifice till his children will also become like him one day.... Thanks to Indian Sacrifices.... Indians are Great...
Dont worry soon Madrasa education will be essintial and then Indian IT jehadies will come to USA to teach the real IT power of India
It's the crux of the matter. I find that Mr. Obama is touching a raw nerve for the Americans. It indirectly touches family structure, schooling
I must say that I am shocked at some of the comments I read here. In United States, the focus is on encouraging children to express themselves and be creative and that is a good skill to have. But, we need math and science skills as well. It is nice to talk about your favorite toy but you need to be able to multiply and divide (preferably without a calculator at your fingertips). Personality can be developed over time and we need to encourage competence. The problem with Indian education is not that the system produces robots. The problem is that we do not have self-esteem and we do not appreciate our own achievements. We think very little of ourselves and parents and society makes only derogatory remarks in general. This destroys any self-confidence people have. No American would even think of making remarks such as those made here. Yet we allow and encourage people to tear us down. That is the biggest problem with Indian society - in India and abroad.
I agree with you totally - Especially many Indians abroad have a bad habit of bad mouthing their own country.
Indians are good workers but not great Leaders and Talkers and we ape the WestLike Insurance, the Cost of Insurance on everyday life is Horrendous while India is copying US and other countries. A Doctor spends 60% time doing insurance work and deduct 50% of Fees from his income. So almost 75% of cost of medical is from Insurance.In last 3-5 yrs cost of Medical has Jumped in India.Insurance has a Big lobby but a total waste and we are copying it
We are missing a key point here. He is not asking to adopt the confused Indian education system as it is. His point is make them technically at par with Indian students, that is follow the goods of American system and adopt few good things in Indian education system, and Indian parenting(which is not possible). But Indians are successful because of the great effort put in by the parents -almost their primary goal in life(except for a few who over pressurize the kids),which is the back bone of the Indian education. We need to start promoting leadership in our Kids at home-Forget about the school.How many of us work on Leadership training to our kids at Home?
I agree with both of you guys.In india if a students doesnt excel in math or science they label him as a loser, whereas here in usa kids get all round development and thats why see many innovations in different fields.
If Obama means the Indians in the USA no problem urging Americans to work more. But in India the educational system only burdens remorselessly
education is not making an automobile. it is not the money in the system that play the role. it is an all round effort. indian social set or system is one of the major causes of its success. at present i am living in australia. australian government spends millions on each school. but i find there is everything except study. in the name of independence they spoil the school goers. you will be surprised to know till year six [that is standered six ] they do not have any test [examination] in the school. most of the parents are little concerned. students fear mathametics and science because they are taught only after year six properly. by that time children have grown their fear about maths. similar scenario is in usa. Mr obama may be most powerful president on the earth but he must know it takes decades for a cultural change. more over india and china are poor countries. this is also one of the major factors for the drive. hope Mr Obama has got the massage.
Just give each american parent a payment voucher and let them choose their kids school. The school if it accepts the student gets the government voucher for that child. This will fix most of the problems in American schools.
You are right - the western education system is not perfect. But to say that Indian system is better than western system is awfully wrong. There are some elements of indian system which is good. But by the time a person gets out of the 12th std system, the mental stress that is put on his results in one of the three things - majority become a wreck, who have suceeded by rote and become incapable of independent thinking. A small minority commits suicide or runaway from the system. Another small minority (which is crema la creme) becomes mentally super strong and is very versatile. These kids then go on to IITs and then to US where everyone takes their example to sing paens about the Indian system.
I don't know about Australia, but in US, parents don't care about their children once they reach 18. Most of my friends have to work 40 hours a week, pay for their school, house rent to stay in their parents house, have to pay for college loan, car loan, car insurance etc etc. How can you expect them to study on top of all these.
The Indian education system is overhyped. We are good at producing robots who can compute technical problem when given proper input. However we cannot think on our own. This is why innovation is lacking in our country. Schooling system is west is about developing a kid's personality. In India it is about making sure he conforms and does not raise any question against authority. They have no presentation skills. My kid goes to UKG in Canada and every week he has to stand before the class and talk about his favorite toy. He comes back home bristling with confidence. When I go to India, kids his age are able to add 2 digit numbers, but have no personality.
I completely agree with Natarajan. Coming to our own education system, we should drive hard the idea of accepting difference and not towing the line that is being taught. Also presentation and debate skills are absolutely essential.
Totally disagree and u got it wrong.Indian and chinese students are way ahead in science and maths than their US counter parts, i dont know about canada tho.If u ask american most of them would say they want to be in either business or healthcare.as far as maths is concerned US students are 1-2yrs laging behind.US is surviving in science bcoz they hire so called "robots" from abroad.like martin luther said "Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity" so admit the fact and get over it.
I agree with you. However you miss the point that most jobs in US or Indian economy do not require you have good presentation skills or public speaking. You do not need to be a good public speaker to be a successful researcher. Sure, Americans can take all marketing and sales job, and waiters which need lot of personality.
There is quality in the indian educational system.thats the reason a lots and lots of africans live and study in india.I live in london and i studied in india.it is bizzare that mr.natarajan says that indian kids do not have personality.it is all depend upon the individual and the upbringing when they were young and the qualifications of the child's parents counts a lot.the more facilities the west provide the kids are lazy and ignorant.
Indian and chinese students in America perform much better than American students, so people in US think all Indians and Chinese are smart. I studied in India till tenth grade, I've spoken out against teachers, I've made speeches in front of students and the whole school community. Even the same LKG students had to perform in front of the whole school, like tell a story, sing a song, read a poem etc. not once in a year but every week.We even used to have interschool competetions in sports, quiz contests, speech contests, drawing contests, etc. You seem to have this inferiority complex with Indians.
I have seen both sides and decided that my daughter study in india. The new schools have so much there, so much of extra cerricular activities, she loves it there, over that they learn to, in us even a high school gradute has to use a calculator to do simple things, Mr Natrajan meet with a Doon School gradute you will know what personality is or a similar school.
yeah if you did not develop your personality. dont blame it on the whole system. try to find faults with yourself first and then the system.I am sure ure kid will perform great in the Walmart toy section like his Canadian friends
Apparently you are overgeneralizing the things - 1. You don't gain personality just by talking and presenting. 2 The output/ resources ratio in these developed countries are way too much high. If developing countries get that much - they can produce still better educated people.However I agree that the education here is skill and job oriented.
Dont you all think that that its the family system making robots and not education. Arnt you people mixing 2 different things? probabaly parents from you choose a career for you and alo pushed you to gain maximum marks to show off in society?? such pressures make robots, not good schooling!ding dong
OUr education administrators, maybe with a few exceptions, are deeply antipathic to the traditional values of education which placed teacher on high pedestal and ensured to cultivate high scholastic discipline including reverence for teacher. Our educators are reared in Western systems and educational philosophy. Hence they cannot undersand how Indian culture has been sustaining high educational standards despite poorly conceived and run schools, which was due to greatly cherished family values. These values were present in the Western society but only before technological means were misused that led to ease and comfort and individualism and downfall of authority in all spheres. India long since began to tread Western culture. Hence the demographic trends forecasting high youth education due to high younger population will not be achieved.Mr Obama should perhaps think of a profound study and analysis of the original cultural values of India and try and see if they can be emulated in the US.as an essential aid for improving school (and university) education there.
I totally agree . robots don't make leaders , which is why indians are in the second and third rung of the system here . It is the independednt thinking American kids who are the bosses , not because of color but they have leadership qualities and bias for action and take very hard nosed decisions . let us not confuse intelligence with exam scores
Generalizing things don't help. Especially true in case of Indian migrants to US et al.We have already seen top corporate leaders in US who were bred in India, so much goes the argument for producing robots.In India there is no dearth of innovative
I do not agree with the above posts! Innovation is not lacking in our country because we cannot think! It is lacking for the lack of proper infrastructure. Kids in India are smart and hard working but we are programmed to just get a job and be content. For the confidence Mr. Natarajan..do u realize english is not our first language yet we learn and excel in any field. Indian kids have more confidence than any other country. I think Corruption is the main problem of India and not being robotic or conforming to the authorities. Also..please dont generalize about personality of Indian kids..Mr.Natarajan your kid may be confident and all..its good for u! The kid adding 2 2 in India will be far ahead than your kid in any field..its too early to say isn't it? I live in US and so proud of my country!
THESE ARE RICH KIDS, IF THEY CAN FIND CHEAP SLAVES FROM CHINA, INDIA, PAKISTAN, WHY SHOULD THEY GO TO SCHOOL?
You have to have money to pay for those slaves IDIOT
Tell Barack Obama about the phenomenon of ragging in Indian institutes of higher education. He may tone down his estimation of the character of the Indian student.
U got it wrong dude, US schools arent free of ragging, harazzing, drugs, gangviolance...also they got something else that we dont have-"Shoot outs".American institutions are infested with bloody guns.So dont try to ditch the character of Indian students alright.
yeah u need to hide in your mom and dads closet all your life. Man up!!!
Yes and the fact that we have ministers like Arjun Singh who will make sure the indian student is dumbbed down to the max extent poss.
People like him only know how to surge their vote bank but doesn't care about impact in coming times. Obama you will find indian students as worse as world want to throw them out from their country to save themselves because of great leader like arjun singh. What a shit
The point the Obama is making is not in terms of average or below average Indian student. This is all about sheer numbers. With vast population even those lucky ones like us who manage to get higher education are quite higher than what US graduates. Second thing is the motivation and thirst for knowledge. Indian system is not good we all know that but we also know that even if fraction of a percent make it it is already being a threat. US fears if our system becomes better what will happen to them when their system is slipping.