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China's "healthy" respect for education boils down to one standardized test which it uses to assign people to what they'll get to do for the rest of their lives

by teeja 17y ago

China's "healthy" respect for education boils down to one standardized test which it uses to assign people to what they'll get to do for the rest of their lives. And censorship of facts because they're inconvenient isn't healthy either. Just like we do here in the US. As for India: what percentage of Indian kids get a full education?

plinkplonk 17y ago
"As for India: what percentage of Indian kids get a full education?" An increasing percentage over time. The question at hand was about aspiration and what a society works towards, not the measure of success achieved to date. By this logic, unless you've conquered intergalactic space travel already, you can't aspire to a space program. How many people in India aspire to give their kids a full scientific education? Practically everyone, even the desperately poor. Has the number of kids getting an education been increasing or decreasing over time? Teh former. Does India deliver a high quality education to every kid born in the country? Not at all. But we are working towards it. There are huge problems to be solved and progress is slow. And it varies over India too. In my home state of Kerala we have 100 % literacy and almost every kid goes to school till 15 years or so. (No evolution phobia either btw ;-)). In Bihar,(say) many kids drop out due to poverty and remain illiterate or barely literate. The original question was "Is there a (developed, or developing) country in the world right now with a healthy respect for education and intellectualism?" Respect for learning and intellectuals is the issue. A country could have a great educational system and still disdain intellectuals - the United States say? The question was about societies that respected education.In India (and China I dare say) an uneducated man respects the educated man, vs disdaining him as an intellectual snob. We are proud that our Prime Minister is a PhD from Oxford. He doesn't have to face accusations of "elitism" like Obama does. We are proud that our last President was a rocket scientist.
- thaumaturgy 17y ago
  Thank you for your answer; it's exactly what I was looking for. One last question: how's religious tolerance in India? Assuming that a foreigner doesn't go around proselytizing, does religion come up often as a point of discussion?
  - plinkplonk 17y ago
    "One last question: how's religious tolerance in India? Assuming that a foreigner doesn't go around proselytizing, does religion come up often as a point of discussion?" Very often. As to religious tolerance,India is largely tolerant of religions except in certain pockets/times. Over the last decade or so, there his been a rise in religious tension largely between Muslim and Hindu radicals, but religion is open to discussion and is a safe topic unless you are going around proselytizing in some of the trouble spots where there is a history of religious tension (which you said you are not planning to do). More than that it is hard to generalize. If you have specific questions, I'll try to answer. My email is in my profile.

by teeja 17y ago

plinkplonk 17y ago

"As for India: what percentage of Indian kids get a full education?" An increasing percentage over time. The question at hand was about aspiration and what a society works towards, not the measure of success achieved to date. By this logic, unless you've conquered intergalactic space travel already, you can't aspire to a space program. How many people in India aspire to give their kids a full scientific education? Practically everyone, even the desperately poor. Has the number of kids getting an education been increasing or decreasing over time? Teh former. Does India deliver a high quality education to every kid born in the country? Not at all. But we are working towards it. There are huge problems to be solved and progress is slow. And it varies over India too. In my home state of Kerala we have 100 % literacy and almost every kid goes to school till 15 years or so. (No evolution phobia either btw ;-)). In Bihar,(say) many kids drop out due to poverty and remain illiterate or barely literate. The original question was "Is there a (developed, or developing) country in the world right now with a healthy respect for education and intellectualism?" Respect for learning and intellectuals is the issue. A country could have a great educational system and still disdain intellectuals - the United States say? The question was about societies that respected education.In India (and China I dare say) an uneducated man respects the educated man, vs disdaining him as an intellectual snob. We are proud that our Prime Minister is a PhD from Oxford. He doesn't have to face accusations of "elitism" like Obama does. We are proud that our last President was a rocket scientist.

thaumaturgy 17y ago
Thank you for your answer; it's exactly what I was looking for. One last question: how's religious tolerance in India? Assuming that a foreigner doesn't go around proselytizing, does religion come up often as a point of discussion?
- plinkplonk 17y ago
  "One last question: how's religious tolerance in India? Assuming that a foreigner doesn't go around proselytizing, does religion come up often as a point of discussion?" Very often. As to religious tolerance,India is largely tolerant of religions except in certain pockets/times. Over the last decade or so, there his been a rise in religious tension largely between Muslim and Hindu radicals, but religion is open to discussion and is a safe topic unless you are going around proselytizing in some of the trouble spots where there is a history of religious tension (which you said you are not planning to do). More than that it is hard to generalize. If you have specific questions, I'll try to answer. My email is in my profile.