Why would Jay Mathews assume that it is only the
public education system that is relevant for comparison with the US system is not clear to me.

For one, I agree that we need many more generations of investment in education (public and private) to begin to make an impact. We have had only 3 or so since independence. My only evidence for the quality of education in the US is the huge output of scientific research, technological development and innovation in liberal/ fine arts. So going by that alone, surely India has a long way to go. I am not going to argue with this.

If output of creative work has to be the only criterion for judging education systems, that would be incorrect. There are other social and economic enabling factors that also play a part. This is much too complex to go into here.

I think the evidence is clear that no matter how flawed, we do have good talent and fine minds coming out of India too. Maybe we are yet to get to the level of world-class research in many fields, but we do have some very good talent even if the quantity is limited. Part of the lack of advancement in research is also due to economic compulsions of having to earn one’s livelihood. I know many people including my father who have had to suspend their dreams midway for this very reason.

Jay Mathews in quoting Tooley seems to juxtapose some (five-star?) exclusive, international-aid supported private schools (observed while staying at 5-star hotels?/!) against some badly run municipal schools. This misses out a whole swathe of private and public schools in the middle. I find this confusing. My father is the product of a well-run Govt. school in his village and went on to do a masters in Chemistry, getting to do some significant work for his time. I studied in a Central Govt. run school system and even if I haven’t created any world-beating technology or ideas, I think the school served me reasonably well. Certainly there is no comparison to the schools Tooley talks about, with teachers absent, etc. My children have gone to private schools that are not aided, or expensive or particularly exclusive.

So to say that the entire public education system is a sham is way off the mark. It is badly and seriously flawed, but it is not a sham. I gave some specific near-to-home examples, but there are others like the Kendriya Vidyalayas, the Navyodayas, and other initiatives. In some states, the state primary schooling is half-decent.

Yes, Jay Mathews is right in asserting that they would never trade their schools for ours. There is no comparison possible. However, he has a very superficial understanding of India at any rate and he is decidedly wrong in characterizing the education system as a ‘sham’. I would grant that Jay Mathews sitting far way is entitled to his limited perspective given his limited objective.

For an Indian living here, it is not. For instance, it is easy for me to be superior and talk of poor administration and the failure of public policy. It is a lot more difficult to implement things on the ground where you have to contend with the teachers’ needs for a decent standard of living, educational opportunities for their offspring, availability of healthcare, proper facilities and aids for teaching.

What would really help is for someone (admittedly not Jay Mathews or Tooley) to attempt a proper diagnosis and prescribe a series of policy and administrative measures that will improve our public schooling.

IEB must move on to get this dialogue going with persons more knowledgeable than I to add real value to public discourse.

Still, if you search there are stimulating, intimate forums on science, math, music and art. On the latter two, the city has much to offer.

Over time, I forecast it will grow and improve as education spreads, aided by the internet as a platform that makes sharing of ideas on applications such as twitter, blogs, social networking tools, Youtube, search engines easy. The coming generations will be the ones to watch, in Chennai as elsewhere. I see a blurring of differentials in 2-3 decades.

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_34/b3948485.htm

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_34/b3948479.htm