Reporting from India: Business Roundtable’s Susan Traiman Shares Her Observations from Abroad

Friday, March 24, 2006 (9:42 p.m., Delhi) - First but not Final Impressions

Entryway to Katha Kazana, a government-aided private school in one of Dehli's slum communities

On the last day of the delegation's trip, we spent the morning at two schools that serve some of Dehli's slum children. My camera battery died while we visited the first school, so there aren't any photos from the second. Both schools were wonderful, colorful spaces that seemed like oases for children living in such difficult situations. Many of the students cannot attend school full-time because they need to help supplement their family incomes by spending their days begging, or they need to stay home to do the household chores while their mothers work. Many also miss school for long periods each year when their families return to their villages to see relatives. The teachers in these schools are dedicated to providing the students with both academic and vocational skills that will give them opportunities for a better life.

On the wall at the school -- Challenge 2010: No Child Who Has Ever Been in Touch with Katha Will Ever Live in Poverty Again

We observed a similar work pattern in both Mumbai and Dehli slums - the women work and most of the men sit around with each other. Alcoholism (drinking moonshine, which causes severe illness) and abuse of wives and children are very common among men in the slums who are unable to find work to support their families. In the schools we visited, we saw a major emphasis on "girl power" to build girls' skills and self esteem and to help them envision a different future for themselves in their hierarchical, male-dominated culture. It's clear that the boys will also need role models that show them alternatives to the men in their communities.

During the afternoon, we had our first "free time" to shop and get ready for the long flight back to the United States.

Playground within the walls of the school for preschool children from the slums

Final observations and reflections: I find myself reluctant to reach any conclusions based on only seven days in two of India's cities. It's a huge, complex society that will be just 60 years old as an independent country in 2007. One of the members of our delegation, Marc Tucker, President of the National Center on Education and the Economy, spent two weeks with a team in India prior to joining the delegation. On our first day he warned that we would think we knew something the first few days that would be proven wrong the next few days and that that process would be repeated over and over throughout the visit. With these caveats and no attempt at a coherent analysis, I'll share seven first impressions from my trip to India over the past week, as well as to China in September 2005.

• The United States needs to make sure our top students study a very challenging curriculum before they go to college and that a higher percentage of them major in STEM fields. Both India and China are pursuing an "elite" education strategy as a first priority. Both countries are betting on the returns they will receive from developing a top tier of students with strong engineering and math skills to be their countries' future leaders and entrepreneurs. To be competitive, the United States cannot assume that these students will do well no matter what happens in school. We also need an "elite" education strategy that is implemented concurrently with "No Child Left Behind."
• The jury is still out on whether China or India will be more globally competitive. Leaders in both India and China know that each of their countries is on the precipice of being a critical player in the global economy. India has the advantage of a larger English-speaking population, but China is in a position to implement a coherent plan and dictate top-down changes that India has to reach through democratic processes. In India, only ten percent of the population make enough money to pay taxes, but as more Indians move into the middle class the government will have more resources to address serious physical and human infrastructure needs.
• Education, particularly in math and science, is highly valued in both India and China. Parents in both countries see math and science as important for their children's future opportunities to get a well-paying job. It's a very pragmatic approach to education. In India, even very poor parents are sending their children to newly opened private schools where all instruction is in English. The entire pre-K-12 education sector is growing with an array of government, government-aided private, private non profit, private for profit and test coaching schools. There is widespread belief that the Indian government education bureaucracy is broken irreparably. This is not school privatization in the way Americans think of vouchers and private schools; it is much more complex with a variety of schools with different levels of government and private assistance.
• The teaching profession is much more highly respected in China than in India or the United States, but all three countries are struggling with how to attract teachers to hard-to-staff schools. Teachers in China are revered by parents and students. In the past, teachers also had this status in India, but with growing materialism it has lost its luster in comparison to more highly paid professions. India's teachers in government schools are government civil servants, hired for life, with no incentives to show up or teach every day. They also have to perform functions that have nothing to do with students, such as taking the census.
• The United States is much more committed to equity in education than India or China, although China is beginning implementation of a plan to close the gap between its rural and urban schools. India still is dealing with the aftermath of its now illegal caste system and the class rigidity it inherited from its experience as a British colony. Efforts to remove the circumstances of birth as the predictor of the quality of children's education are moving very slowly. The Indian legislature is now considering a law that would require all private schools (because they receive their land free of charge) to accept 15 percent of their students from India's historically lowest castes. Needless to say, it is very controversial. Clearly, the U.S. public school system exposes more students to people from different income, ethnic and racial backgrounds; provides a higher quality education to a majority of its students; and keeps opportunities open for students who need a second chance to succeed.

• Computer room where older students are doing research

  The U.S. education system is envied for producing creative thinkers. China, India, Singapore and other Asian countries want to learn how they can adapt their curriculum and instruction to encourage more creativity, an outcome that these countries see in U.S. students and now want to develop in their young people. Policymakers and educators in both India and the United States are trying to find the appropriate balance between the sciences and the humanities with each country needing to move more in the direction of the other without sacrificing its current strengths.
• The greatest competitive advantage that India and China have compared to the United States is the "hunger" of its young people for education, especially in math and science. Complacency is the problem we face in the United States. We need to encourage a new work ethic - a willingness to put in the effort to succeed in difficult academic challenges. Many U.S. students are very comfortable with the status quo and have little motivation to work harder in school. Recent immigrants to the United States and their children have the drive that we need to encourage more young people to emulate. The size of India's and China's populations are staggering. They can compete with only a small percent of their populations. We can no longer assume continued U.S. scientific and technological leadership without a deliberate strategy to improve STEM education, reform our immigration policies and invest in basic research in the physical sciences and engineering.

Thursday, March 23, 2006 (8:04 p.m., Delhi) - From Sesame Street to Research, Engineering Degrees Open Many Doors

Team from Sesame India introduced by a member of our delegation, Gary Knell, head of Sesame Workshop

A new Indian Muppet, Boombah, the pink lion who loves to dance

Gali Gali Sim Sim. That's what India's version of Sesame Street will be called when the television show starts this August. New Muppets designed by a very talented local team will be featured along with Bert, Ernie and other Muppets American kids know. We visited the studio, walked around the set and met with the people who created Gali Gali Sim Sim. Their education backgrounds included media, journalism, education, theater and yes - engineering. Some members of the delegation had been concerned about the humanities, given the value and emphasis that parents put on math and science in India. It's obvious from this visit that talent has other options! The program is intended to help young children develop early literacy skills, understand unique customs in different parts of the country and learn acceptance of differences.

New Gali Gali Sim Sim Muppet character will join Bert, Ernie and other Muppets known by children in the United States

My colleagues requested a photo for the blog that I was in--this is me with Aanchoo, another new Indian Muppet on the set of Gali Gali Sim Sim

From early childhood in the morning, we moved to the pride of India's higher education in the afternoon. Our visit to the Delhi IIT was especially interesting because we went to the IIT in Mumbai earlier in the week, which gave us a chance to see the similarities and differences. All of the IITs are under the same government authority, and students take the same entrance test, but each operates autonomously. Most students major in an engineering field, but the director told us that many of their graduates are now going into financial services. This is a major change from a decade ago when most IIT students went on to graduate school. The demand for engineers is so great that there is an internal debate about whether to add more IITs beyond the current seven or instead to upgrade the other engineering schools in the country. IITs are very expensive to run because they are residential for both students and faculty, and the tuition is almost free. The other concern is the supply of high quality faculty. Many IIT students get higher salaries when they graduate than their professors earn. We only had time to talk to a few students, and each said they plan to pursue their careers in India, but might go to the United States for an MBA or graduate research. None was interested in becoming a faculty member at an IIT.

The running theme of these reports has been the vivid contrasts between the vision that India's public and private sector leaders have for the future and the current reality for most of the population. More on this and final reflections in my next report.

Two contrasting photos illustrate the challenge for India. Will it be the country where holes are filled by hand with no equipment?

Or will it be the global India discussed at the Asia Society's Corporate Conference?

Wednesday, March 22, 2006 (9:47 p.m., Delhi) - From Business to Education, Enthusiasm about India's Future Abounds

Short report after a long day that started with breakfast with five business executives from Tata McGraw-Hill, a 36-year partnership between Tata and The McGraw-Hill Companies. Their enthusiasm about the enormous growth potential for their educational publishing business reflected the enthusiasm we've heard from everyone in the business community. Because of their company's obvious interest in education, they also helped us better understand the rapid growth of private schools in India. There are 1,017,159 schools in India. Of these, only 49,668 teach in English and most of these are private schools. New private schools, both nonprofit and for-profit, are popping up all over the country - education is highly valued by Indians, and parents of all income levels understand that English is a prerequisite for future success. Although private schools are a small percentage now, the numbers are beginning to take off. From what we've been told, the government is not concerned at all; it views these private schools as filling a need that the government cannot afford.

We got more insights about the education system from a meeting we attended at the National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration, an Indian think tank. However, we also got more confused because of the system's complexity. Just an example - there are at least five layers of government that play some role in governance with five different boards and seven different types of schools. Each state has its own standards and tests, but entrance exams to some of the higher education institutions are the same for the entire country. Most students attend government schools that are publicly funded, but like the United States, there is wide variability in their quality. However, it was clear that India is pursuing an "elite" strategy that selects the top students in the country, enables them to get a world-class university education (with an emphasis on engineering), and then the talent attracts investment that builds the country. In this context, it was interesting to see how the government makes sure to take care of its civil servants. Ministry officials took us to one of the best government schools (not surprising that they would want to feature the positive), one that is part of a network of schools established for government employees who move to different parts of India for their jobs. It assures them a good school wherever they work.

At all of these meetings, math and science continually came up. Everyone, from students to administrators to government officials, put a high priority on these subjects. It was a background theme at a wonderful reception and dinner that was held for us in the evening with local people who are influential in business, politics, culture and the media. Young Indian entrepreneurs who might have gone to the United States in the past are staying or returning to India. With their strong math, science and engineering backgrounds, they are creating businesses and working for top finance and high tech companies. New wealth increases the demand for arts and culture, restaurants, shops, hotels, housing and other new ventures that create jobs. As a result, twenty-five percent of the lower class has now been able to move up to middle class because of this new investment in India. The pride in India and the excitement about India's future are infectious.

Tuesday, March 21, 2006 (9:12 p.m., Delhi) - Finding Inspiration in Education

Today was truly inspirational. We saw children who have overcome the direst circumstances because they were given opportunities to learn from outstanding teachers, guidance from caring adults and role models of older students from Mumbai's slums who are succeeding. We also saw how a very determined, committed, smart and energetic woman impacts the lives of these children and provides evidence that they can have a different future. I also found the day heartbreaking because only 2,600 out of Mumbai's 2.3 million children who live in slum areas have benefited from the program she created.

Example of where the children who attend Little Flower of Jesus High School live

Before I discuss any of the details, I want to make sure that what "slum" means is understood. It's not what the word connotes in U.S. urban areas. I gave a short description yesterday, and today I'm attaching a photo that gives just one view of where these children live.

We started at an Akanksha Center, one of 51 such centers run by the Akanksha Foundation. Akanksha is the Sanskrit word for aspiration. The CEO and Founder of Akanksha in 1990, Shaheen Mistri, began as a college student with a simple idea. She saw thousands of slum children who needed and wanted to be educated. There were thousands of college students who had the energy, enthusiasm and time to teach these children. And there were pockets of available spaces throughout the city that could be transformed into teaching environments. This combination - slum children, college student volunteers and spaces that could be used after school - resulted in the creation of Akanksha Centers. Akanksha's mission is "to impact the lives of less privileged children, enabling them to maximize their potential and change their lives." Sixty children study at each center in the afternoons, Monday-Friday. Many have never been to a school prior to joining the program, and Akanksha staff insist that they go to government schools in the morning, even though the quality of many (if not most) of those schools is very poor. The centers encourage students to start at age five, and they have social workers who do outreach in the community to recruit students.

We met with Shaheen Mistri, the centers' amazing founder, her very smart and accomplished staff and about fifteen teenage students and "graduates" from the program who are now in their late teens and early twenties. Each gave personal examples of learning how to learn, manage time, make decisions, pass their high school examinations and develop plans for the future. Akanksha is partnering with another group to launch a pilot of Teach for India in October, and other projects are in the works. It also now is branching out to work with some of the schools that their students attend.

Entrance to building where the Little Flower of Jesus High School is located

We visited one of these schools, Little Flower of Jesus High School, a government-aided private school (there is no religious curriculum, and the students come from many different religions). A picture of the front of the school building is attached. There is the stench of urine when you enter the building, and a small child was sleeping on the floor in a corner of the doorway, but after climbing to the floors where the school has its space, everything is clean and cheerful. Although it's called a high school, students start in pre-K. Akanksha staff are working with the teachers to improve instruction, but it's difficult for them to change their teaching methods when they have classrooms with 70 students and nowhere to move the furniture in the cramped rooms. However, this school was much better than some of the others we heard about from the students at Akanksha - schools where teachers hit them, fell asleep at their desks instead of teaching and where no one cared enough to help them learn.

In the evening we flew from Mumbai to Delhi. The airport was maddeningly inefficient, but somehow all of us made it onto the plane! There was barely any time to reflect on the day, but it's difficult to reconcile the India that is a competitor in science and engineering with the India where Shaheen Mistri and her staff are the only people we've met thus far who believe that children in the slums could be among India's engineers if they received a good education.

Monday, March 20, 2006 (7:58 p.m., Mumbai) - A First Look into the Indian Education System

Tenth graders at the Cathedral School study for their high school exit exam

We started the day at the Cathedral School, a private school founded 140 years ago that is considered one of the most prestigious in India. The school facility is okay, but far from state-of-the-art in use of technology or equipment in science labs. Its 1,750 students range from 3-year-olds to 12th graders who come from upper-middle and upper-class families in Mumbai. High school in India ends after 10th grade; then, students who pass the high school exit exam have different choices based on their test scores. We met with 11th and 12th grade students who wanted to spend their last two years in high school taking AP courses before going to college in the United States, UK, Australia and Singapore.

The Cathedral students were similar to those at elite U.S. private schools, and they hope to get into U.S. universities, such as Ivy League colleges, Stanford and MIT. Most of them seemed most interested in pursuing science, engineering or business majors. I talked to several students who had participated in model UN international programs in the United States. They found it amusing when American students complimented them on their excellent English because English is their first language. That isn't true for most students in India - their first language is vernacular (the language and dialect of their state or region), then the national language, Hindi, and then English, which they learn in school.

Cathedral School students were also very involved in school sports, with different school "houses" competing against each other. Like in Harry Potter, I asked. Exactly, they responded. They said there's no concept of "nerds" in schools in India - it's a good thing to be great in math and science. On learning that one of the participants in our delegation was from Los Angeles, one of the students asked if there's really so much racism in L.A. because she had just seen the movie, "Crash."

Fourth graders at the Sir Jacob Sassoon School greet the U.S. delegation as they enter their science class

Our next stop was the Sir Jacob Sassoon School in a much poorer section of Mumbai. Founded in 1903 as a Jewish School, it now has a predominantly Muslim population from preschool (age 3) through 10th grade. The Sassoon School is a charity supported private school with 560 students, including 21 Jewish students. Its secular curriculum recognizes all religions but makes a special effort to highlight Jewish traditions because of the school's history. The head of the school said that Muslim parents have no problem with this aspect of the school or with the Jewish symbols on the walls and entrance. In fact, the school has many more students who would like to attend than space permits.

We didn't have an opportunity to talk to the students at the Sassoon School, but we spent time with the teachers. The head of the school is a former software engineer who decided he wanted to get involved in education. He told us the teachers were using strategies to make their teaching more engaging for the students, but we only saw traditional instruction in our brief classroom visits.

Across the street was a government-funded private school that also serves a poor Muslim population. It was in a physically crumbling building where the students had completely outdated materials. All of us are a bit confused about all the different funding and governance configurations for schools - government, government-aided, municipal, private, for-profit and various hybrids. What's clear and very troubling to see is how much of the caste system remains and determines the quality of children's education and life opportunities.

Sassoon School faculty pose for a picture with some members of the U.S. delegation

Our last stop of the day was at the India Institute of Technology (IIT) in Mumbai. It is one of seven of India's most respected higher education institutions. It's an understatement to say that it is difficult to be accepted at an IIT - 300,000 students take the entrance examination and only 4,000 are admitted, based solely on the ranking of their test scores. The Director said he estimates that 10,000 students are qualified and admission depends on which 4,000 happen to do the best that day. About twelve percent of the test takers are women, and women are twelve percent of the student body. The majority of IIT graduates go abroad for graduate school and, for most, the United States still is their first choice. More and more are returning to India after they complete their graduate work. In addition to the seven IITs, there are 17 National Institutes of Engineering and 10 other colleges of engineering around the country that, while not at the IIT level, are considered good programs.

According to the Mumbai IIT director, India graduates 250,000 engineers a year, but only 20,000 are competitive with graduates from good engineering programs in the United States. However, another member of the faculty estimates the number is closer to 100,000. It was interesting to hear their perspective on the numbers, but all agreed that the IIT degree was indisputably the "gold standard" and provided a ticket to a very comfortable life.

At IIT, the faculty mentioned that they realize that they need to put more emphasis on the humanities. However, we learned that by humanities they mean courses in economics and management! It was a good example of how foreign visitors can reach incorrect conclusions about what words mean in different environments.

Traffic in Mumbai is horrible - traveling four miles takes at least an hour. However, it gives us time on the bus rides to discuss the impressions different members of the delegation have about the schools. The bus rides also provide a close view of Mumbai's slums that line the roads. This is where 60 to 70 percent of Mumbai's population live, many in 10 by 10 shanties without electricity or running water. What's almost inconceivable is that this is a better life than the villages where they were starving.

More tomorrow.

Click here to view the list of the U.S. delegation.

Sunday, March 19, 2006 (8:14 p.m., Mumbai) - The Journey Begins in India

Our delegation of U.S. education leaders started our India visit in Mumbai (formerly Bombay) at the Asia Society's Corporate Conference, "Driving Global Business: India's New Priorities, Asia's New Realities." We joined several hundred participants from India's business community, as well as representatives from Australia, China, Singapore, Malaysia and other Asian countries. Corporate sponsors included several Business Roundtable companies such as AIG, Boeing, Citigroup, Coca-Cola and Goldman Sachs. It was the first time that a group of American education leaders was invited to participate, and we had the opportunity to learn firsthand about the role education plays in Asian countries' approach to the global economy.

The Prime Minister of India, H.E. Dr. Manmohan Singh, addressed the conference on Saturday evening after the candle lighting ceremony that traditionally opens conferences here. It was clear that President Bush's visit had been very important to India's government, and the Prime Minister expressed his commitment to greater economic engagement and enhancement of India's infrastructure.

Sunday's agenda included a panel on the topic, "Education Reform: India's Path Towards World Class Status." The panelists had a lively discussion about the definition of "world class," the need to reduce the number of high school dropouts, the potential of technology, irrelevant teacher training, the lack of support for teachers and the need to engage students more in learning. If I closed my eyes and ignored the accents, the discussion could have taken place in the United States!

The highlight of the day was a private meeting with Singapore's Minister of Education, Tharman Shanmugaratnam. In his opinion, the United States has some outstanding schools that use very interesting and innovative approaches; he considers them among the best in the world. However, these are the exception. Singapore, from his perspective, has the reverse problem - a high level of "average" performance, but schools have not developed new practices, innovations or experiments because they have been so successful with an aligned system of national curriculum, common assessments, excellent teacher training and a strong performance evaluation system. The Ministry is now introducing incentives to encourage choices in addition to core curriculum subjects, applied learning and attention to the humanities, which are not as highly valued as math and science by both parents and students.

From the first couple of days, it's clear that India is a complex country with sharp contrasts between an affluent, entrepreneurial, high-tech vision of the future and the reality of inadequate infrastructure and extreme poverty for a large segment of its population. Tomorrow we visit schools; I'm told by folks here that I shouldn't form any conclusions until I spend more time in the country, but I'll still share my impressions.

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