The King SPEAKS

Difference In Education Systems

Posted on August 26th, 2006 by The King.
Categories: Everything and Anything!!!, Life, School.

Throughout my life I’ve been moving from place to place because of my father’s job. It has its ups and downs. One of the key differences in both the places is education. Now as far as I’ve seen, there is a huge difference that it takes some time to adjust. The U.S and Indian education systems are completely different. And that’s what I’m here to write about. This post was long overdue and someone even requested it (Don’t tell this to anyone but it was Aman :D) And as I was getting bored I thought I might just complete this. So here it is:

I may warn you that my experience is limited to only NY education department because each state has its own department. But many things are similar for all the states.

Compulsory and voluntary: One major difference is that finishing 12th grade is compulsory and not like India where it is only till 5th or 8th grade. Now some people argue that U.S. education system is very low but I think otherwise. In its defense I would argue that it doesn’t cost anything. I mean our government schools which are free aren’t good either. If you go to one I would assume that you know less than US students. Plus how much does the Indian government enforce students to go to these schools. Well U.S. students have to go to school. If you don’t go to school they call your parents and force you to go school. US government takes it very seriously. And the schools are pretty good too. On one hand the state pays for your education, while on the other hand your parents do.

Class system Class system in NY school (even U.S. schools) is much different than that of the Indian high school. In NY schools, each student has his own custom made schedule for classes. Unlike India where a class moves on together to a new grade, here each individual has his separate class. For example, last year I had honors Global history, chemistry, intro to law, Gym, Spanish, honors English and honors math. Not everyone 10th grader had the exact same schedule. And each of these subjects had its different room where I had to. So every period I have to move around from class to class unlike India where a class stays in a room and a teacher comes to the room to teach you. All students in 10A for example are taught by the same teacher and remain in the same class the whole day.
These classes are not just random classes, but you get to chose them. In India the administration chooses the class for you and the order according to class and section you are in. (All students in 10B will have same schedule; all students in 10C will have same classes in same order and in the same room). But here, you get to choose some of your classes, and some are given according to your capability. Depending on your capability and grades, you are generally placed into either regular or honors. Honors are the same course but on a harder level. And why would you take honors classes, because firstly they look good when you apply for a college and second it adds .05% of the grade in the class to your average.
For example: I get 90 in honors math. Now when they take my average in the report card they will take the grade of honors math as, (.05*90) + 90 = 94.5. So instead of taking 90 in the whole average, they take 94.5 to calculate the average. This helps improve your overall average.
There is another option available for only certain classes. A.P i.e. Advanced Placement. These classes are very hard compared to regular ones but have a lot of advantages. It not only looks good on your college application but these are college courses. So some colleges accept these grades and give you college credit for it. To get that you have to give a special test at the end of the year (separate from school in a way) on which the colleges base whether or not to give you credit for the class. This also adds .1 * your grade to your grade.
For example: I get 100 in AP class. Now when they take my average in the report card they will take the grade of AP class, (.1*100) + 100 = 110. So instead of taking 100 in the whole average, they take 110 to calculate the average. This helps boost your overall average and can be very helpful. Sometimes your total average becomes over 100% due to these honors and AP classes.

Every Test Counts: Unlike India where the class tests don’t count, every test counts here. The average of these class tests is a major role of your average. This has its advantages and disadvantages. For example, in India, if I do badly on the final once, my whole grade gets screwed no matter how good my class tests were, because the final is the only one that counts. But on the other hand, to get good grades, you not only have to get good grades on test, but have to maintain the good grades. You can’t just do well on one and forget about it. For example, for me to get 90 in chemistry, I have to get an average of the entire tests to about 90 (for NY/US education system). Another thing that matters in your grade is class participation. One of my friends and I used to compete in Chemistry class for the highest grade, and we used to get similar grades. But one term I got higher because I participated a lot of the class whereas he didn’t. This teaches you to speak up and not be shy. Helps your self-confidence and courage. Class participation in India doesn’t count a lot.

Electives: Electives are a choice of classes you can take. Unlike India where the administration just hands you what classes you are going to take, it’s different here. You can choose a lot of classes according to your wish. For example, I chose business law this year as my elective, whereas my friends chose Science research. You can choose the elective according to choice and your interest. Even the A.P. classes come under electives because you have a choice of taking them whereas you are generally automatically put into honor classes if your average is above 90%. You can even choose your gym as explained later.
To see a list of electives go to my schools website and on the left side the left panel click on elective course description.

Practical vs. TheoryIndia follows a system of knowing more theory than practical. Most of the stuff I learnt in India I had to cram, whereas here they teach you in stages and it is more practical. Schooling in India is very stressful due to the need of an excellent education for a decent job. It’s much more fun and less stressful here. Some might consider it easier because you don’t have to memorize so much. But I consider it equal because you still have to use your brain but in a different manner. You have projects and researches and stuff which you don’t have that much in India. So it’s really up to you, if you can memorize easily then India is good, but if you can’t, U.S. better. If you’re too lazy to do practical stuff like research you’re not going to do well in U.S.

Compulsory Language Option Even though both the schools I studied in India and U.S I had to take a compulsory language, I had much more choice in U.S. I mean in India I had a choice between Marathi and Sanskrit (Hindi and English were compulsory) whereas here I have a choice between a lot of languages, to name some: Spanish (which I am currently taking), Latin, French, German, Chinese, Japanese, and many more. It depends on your schools too though because not all schools have that much variety. But I did get credits on my transcript for learning Sanskrit and Hindi which helps me.

Necessary credits To graduate school you need at least 44 credits according to NY department of Education. Here is a copy from my school website

44 Credits Are Required to Graduate
Minimum Course Requirements:
English———————– 8 Credits
Global History————— 4 Credits
U.S. History——————- 2 Credits
U.S. Government————- 1 Credit
Economics——————– 1 Credit
Math. ———————— 6 Credits
(Including Math “A” or Sequential Math 1)
Science———————– 6 Credits
(4 Credits MUST be in a Laboratory Science)
Foreign Language———— 2 Credits* or 6 Credits**
Physical Education ———- 4 Credits
(7 terms - .58 p/term = 4 credits)
Health———————— 1 Credit
Art ————————— 1 Credit
Music————————- 1 Credit
Numerous electives are available

*Minimum for Regent Diploma
**Required for Advanced Regent Diploma

As you can see I have to complete a variety of courses before I can graduate which include a semester of health, music and art. Regents are available only for NY state schools and are something like Indian boards. These are just a statewide test of a particular subject. Includes multiple choice and short answers, and subjects like global history have essays in them. I gave 3 regents last year math (97), global history (99) and chemistry (90).

Science and social Unlike India where you have to take all three sciences in the same year from 7th grade to 12th grade, here you have to take one science per year in high school. For example I took chemistry during 10th grade and going to take physics during 11th grade. You can even choose which one you want to take. Except for this science class, I don’t have to take any other. Both the systems have their pros and cons. In India they have a more extensive study of the sciences, and that too together. As many of the sciences are connected it helps to learn them side by side but it also tends to get too repetitive sometimes. On the other hand in NY schools, they teach you about a specific science in detail one year and then move on to the other one next year. But as stated before, sometimes you have to remind yourself of the other science to understand a specific subject, and since it has already been a year or more, it could be a problem.

Attendance: An astonishing fact that I’ve seen here is that there are a lot of kids who aren’t worried about there education. In India due to the booming population to get a decent job you need at least 2 degrees. And here even if you pass high school you can get a good sufficient job. Due to this reason Indian students are a lot more concerned about their studies. I mean they want a good attendance so that they don’t miss any classes and pretty much so that they don’t fail class. But over here there is still more job opportunities and these pay good amounts of money. For example, an electrician in Indian maybe considered lower class in India, and their pay is meager considering the economy and cost of common commodities. But on the other hand an electrician here maybe considered middle class and has sufficient pay for himself and his family. Due to this factor its ok if you cut once in a while and it’s no big deal (for the students). Because of this every teacher teaching a subject has her own attendance which goes to the main administration.

Uniform: A lot of Indian schools have uniforms. Believe it or not, they are sometimes beneficiary. Here due to public freedom, you do not have to wear uniform, even though there are certain dress codes that were made, no one follows them. Sometimes people wear gang colors and other clothes as to distinguish them from other gang members. In such a situation Uniforms are necessary and very beneficiary. But sometimes uniforms get a little out of hand, and you dislike them. In my last school, we were made to wear white pant and white shirt on Saturdays. Living in Mumbai where it rains a lot, it really got messy especially when we played soccer or any other sports in those white sparkling uniforms. Till the time we got home, they were completely ruined. We had to polish our shoes like in the military (but not with that much enthusiasm) and wear a tie and a belt. You get used to it.

Gym: All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. We’ve heard that a lot of times, but don’t consider it seriously. Well the US education department does. GYM is compulsory and not once a week or twice a week but everyday. Not only does that keep people in shape but it’s also a great place to take out all the stress. I mean just play a game of basketball or soccer and its gives you good exercise and stress relief. But in India, CBSE only has gym a 1 day a week for classes like 10th, 11th, and 12th. And even for lower classes like 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th it’s only 2 or 3 times a week. No more than that. I can justify it because the stress of education is very high. Students have a lot of classes and therefore they can’t schedule them to more Gym classes where they can relax and workout. Another thing I noticed is, you can choose what kind of gym you want. For example, I chose soccer for next year while my friends chose basketball. Some chose tennis, handball, even weight lifting. They have a variety of choices as to what you want.

School Security: One thing different I have seen in U.S. schools is that there is a strong need for school security, whereas I never saw that in Indian schools. I mean maybe it’s only in NY but there are often huge fights between the students which sometimes include weapons like knives guns etc. Therefore the NYPD has a special branch only for school safety. These people are trained to tackle down children and maintain peace in schools. There was never a need for such measures in Indian schools. The fights would never include weapons which is a great thing. Recently in my school there have been brutal fights, for example one where my friends friend was badly beaten up. His head was bleeding, bleeding nose, maybe even broken bones. You will never see such fights in Indian schools. Along with this, there are drug deals and many more illegal activities. A kid who used to sit next to me in chemistry was connected with drugs and I think even sold them. You really don’t see that in Indian schools.

Cultural Diffusion: One thing very prominent in New York City schools is cultural diffusion. My school has so many different races, ethnicities, cultures; it’s sometimes surprising how less we know about other cultures. For example, one of my best friends is Greek. And I never knew that Greece was so cool. You study about them in history but you really don’t know them until you meet them. BTW, Greece is a party country. I have so many different friends from different places, Russians, Indians, Americans, Pakistanis, Chinese, Japanese, Sri Lankan, Bangladeshi, Czech, and Irish. You name ‘em, we have ‘em. It’s pretty cool to learn about so many cultures.

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