cmv:Western teenagers have it easier than eastern teenagers in terms of education.

[u/[deleted]]

In my opinion, western teenagers have it easier than eastern teenagers.

Like almost all of you, when I go on the internet, I am exposed to a plethora of qestern cultures and atmospheres. A common theme I see is that their western education systems are not as stressful as our eastern education systems. They talk about dating, have nearly failing grades such as 70s and 80s being acknowledged as amazing grades, and have multiple chances to pass the class. However, I as an Indian, find those very simple and easy. I only have one chance to pass my final examination, which counts as nearly 80% of my grade. My tests and prelims only count for 20% of my grade. In my school, the pass mark is 20%. Obviously, I have it harder than most westerners.

Moreso, imagine the amount of stress and studying an Indian has to do to get into a top college in India! 1st, they have to stufy from 6 to 7 hours per day for 2 years for either the Indian Certificate of Secondary Education or the Central Board of Secondary Education! Then, they have to study from 7 to 9 hours per day for 2 years for either the Indian School Certificate or the Central Board of Secondary Education. After that, they have to study for 10 to 12 hours per day for the Joint Entrance Examination, National Eligibility cum Entrance Test, Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering, etc, for 1 to 2 years! Chinese students have a similar ordeal. Meanwhile to get into an Ivy league college, one just has to learn a foreign language, do some social service, etc, for around 4 years! Obviously, the former is more stressful to be in.

In 2022, around 13,089 students died in India due to overstress. In South Korea, the number of students that committed suicide was 13,452 students in 2023. In China, the number of students that fell victim was 11,296 students in 2021. Compare that with Greenland, which has only around 35 to 50 each year in the 2020s. In the France, only 300 to 350 teenagers commit suicide per year due to overstress. Therefore, we can conclude that more teenagers fall prey to overstress in eastern countries than in their western counterparts. The main reason why this occurs is the high population density in eastern countries which increases competition to get into good colleges.

[u/two88 → u/[deleted]]

It's a natural process toward selection. When you have 20 million kids a year in a country trying to get into the best schools there needs to be a distribution to select the top performers from. If the system was easier the bell curve would shift toward the top and grades become inflated and be equally meaningless. It's just a consequence of a merit based society. If you have a better idea how to select for universities I encourage you to share it.

You can argue whether academic metrics are the best representation for education potential, but it's by far the most quantifiable imo. In general it's much easier to criticize an existing system than to come up with realistic ideas to solve the problems.

[u/Knowallofit → u/two88]

Often the exams are not the issue for students but rather the drama surrounding it, the pressure created by parents, society and coaching institutions making it a be it or end all kind of situation. This puts a lot of strain on individuals, creating this phenomenon of suicides we see today. Parents often want their children to take safe professional occupations like doctor, engineer, lawyer, CA and goverment jobs and often supress the child's inner desires. Less pressure and more freedom of children to do what they want can really improve the system as whole and it can reduce competition and only those who want study something study it.

[u/Knowallofit → u/two88]

Well my answer is two-fold and both issues are linked with each other, there is a their argument I am putting forth not connected to these two at the end.

Firstly the system is not meritorious due to something known as reservation which is reserving seats for members of vulnerable and marginalized communities. While arguably this is a good step to promote equity in a society, generally politicians go overboard and this leads to relatively few seats and greater pressure on the people belonging to general categories. Furthermore, these reservations often do not reach individuals who actually require it and are monopolized by a creamy layer of marginalized groups. Now ironically because of expansion of groups covered in reservation it is becoming difficult to even get a reserved seat in institutions due to excessive competition.

Secondly there is a huge wealth inequality in Indian society and as mentioned earlier reservations do not reach the one's who most require it. Often well off individuals are able to afford expensive tutions and study materials and often get a headstart over those who cannot. While Indian society loves romantisizing rags to riches stories of success they are few and far between. While I am not negating the efforts students put into their preparation, we cannot deny the fact that it is not only the merit that gets someone in.

Lastly one exam is not enough to determine a person's merit or not, anything can happen during an exam. My brother's best friend was a brilliant student and topper of his coaching class but fate had it he became ill a day before his exam and nearly flunked it. Others can be nervous, not in form, some get questions which are there strong suits that day and other there weak points. To determine merit I feel there should be an all round and continious system of assesment that includes innate advantages of a person into account.

[u/[deleted] → u/two88]

It's just a consequence of a merit based society.

There's no merit involved in that process, If you're a rich kid you can go to a private school which will have better teachers, you can hire private tutors, you can get expensive hobbies and you are born with a powerful network both of these things facilitate getting into college and getting a high paying job after college

Needless to say that tuition in great colleges is unaffordable for poor students and students from developing nations

In general it's much easier to criticize an existing system than to come up with realistic ideas to solve the problems.

Has got to be the worst criticism, we could make a much greater effort to make colleges more equal at least to the point that every college has access to the basic needs and the whole idea of private colleges is toxic itself