Indian Education System

Yesterday we went to another private school, City Pride School, about 45 minutes away to get an even better perspective on the Indian education system. Once again, we were given a beautiful traditional welcome, and the students of the school organized an incredible cultural program for us. They acted and sang and danced for us. They gave us handmade crafts and drew henna on all our hands. We were able to sit down with many of the students our age and talk to them about their school and their lives. It was so interesting to hear about what they are currently going through. In India, instead of high school, the students have kindergarten-10th grade in the same school. After 10th grade, they have to face the decision of what they want to become when they are older, and they have three options; sciences, commerce or arts. They then go to these specialized “junior colleges” for two years. The majority of these students pick sciences because it is believed to be the most successful, and from there, one will have the most opportunities. We discussed their parents influences on these decisions and whether they felt free to choose whichever trades they want.

Putting myself in their shoes, I would be in such a different situation right now. I am going to be in 12th grade this year, so if I were an Indian student, I would already be two years into my junior college of whatever trades I had decided. These are monumental decisions for such young children and have an incredible impact on the rest of their lives.

After 10th grade, all students are required to take specific exams. These exams decide which school you go to, and the better your results, the better the school you are able to attend. Due to such a large population of students, these are extremely competitive tests. Even if students are scoring in the 90th percentile, they are usually unable to get into the top schools. Many students often seek extracurricular help in order to aid their test scores. They begin preparing for these exams years prior, and often take supplementary classes after school or on their weekends.

This is such a different system than we have in the U.S. and there are certain flaws and strengths to the way they do this. It seems that this younger generation is quite progressive with the current systems. Though they used to be pressured into many decisions, they now seem to feel more free to decide what they want. Undeniably, their parents make a huge impact on the outcome of their choices, but so do ours in the U.S.