Education is part of the development process for every child and young adult. Many of us go on to receive specialized education / training or go for what may be termed as higher education. In our system, the young adult is taught to learn the value of money and be responsible for the decisions! And that is great! What is not great is that our kids (including young adults) find themselves in competition with the world that is structurally very different.
The point that I am trying to make can be understood if you take example of say a doctor or an engineer or a software developer from India. Most of them, go to high school and college paid for by the parents. Most would finish their education in the shortest time because they do not have to work for earning to pay for college. Typically, an Indian would have 3 to 5 years advantage over an American in finishing education. Besides, they do not have any loans to repay which helps in focusing on what is most important, i.e., the job.
When you compare this to the process our young adults go through to decide what specialization they need, the time lost is enormous. How many college students have an “undecided” status on major? Besides, the cost of education is way higher – not in comparison to India but say Canada. The cost of education has no co-relation to the earnings potential of a field of education but the demand for a field of specialization does give the opportunity for educational institutions to put a premium on the cost. Once we view the gray areas of comparison, we can easily find out the room for improvement in our education which would help our college students, our competitive abilities. I agree in part with Andrew especially about the adjustment in thinking about education.
In simple terms, the cost of education, in India is lower because educational institutions are not big on sports programs. When a college education is required, it is nearly pure academic effort. Please keep in mind the IITs in India are comparable to MIT and IIMs are comparable to Wharton School or Sloan School. Even when the sports programs are bigger than India, the cost of say an engineering degree, in Toronto or medical school at Montreal is considerably lower than most of American Universities.
The early focus on specialization that Indian and Chinese students have places demand for professional career counselors in high schools. It is the lack of proper counseling that results in millions of dollars being spent by our students in pursuing college programs without knowing what do they want to do!
Parenting can assume some of the responsibility of career guidance / counseling / selection of school or college and if we start looking at good college programs that do not cost more because of a sports program, we will be preparing our kids and country for the competitive advantage that we need. The value of money, the opportunity cost, best value for money in deciding a college course and specialization may be an objective decision where we can help our kids!
If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it!
