Is grass greener on the other side?

For a new documentary comparing education in India, China and America, yes seems to be the answer to the question. The film, Two Million Minutes, has drawn mixed reactions from academics.

I am not experts. But having experienced both, I have opinions of my own. If education is a pyramid, American education is loosely plowed at bottom but shining on the top, while Chinese education is rigid on the bottom but petered out at the top.

Before college, Chinese students works far more harder than American counterparts, often to an unnecessarily daunting level. For Americans, only those "nerdy" types concentrate a lot on studying before college, but the rope begins to tighten up in the college. For Chinese, much of the work is done before college, so college is a time to "have a life" besides studying, although job competition makes their life relatively harder than it used to be. At the post-graduate level, such as Ph.D., the rigorousness of Chinese program is no competition to the American. Also, Chinese education is comparatively more goal oriented while American education emphasizes more on the ability to learn.

I had seen some American business graduate student having no slightest clue what square root is, which would be unthinkable to a Chinese - he would have had no opportunity of graduate education in China. But I guess that student finished up his education and got through life just fine, by putting in continuous work. Whatever the route it takes, that seems to be the point of education.

You can watch the youtube trailer here.

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