NEW DELHI , India ranks 73rd out of 79 countries in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). That's below Vietnam, below Thailand, below even Kazakhstan. But we celebrate. We celebrate having the most engineers. We celebrate having the most doctors. We celebrate quantity while ignoring quality.
The numbers are devastating. 43% of Indian graduates are unemployable. They have degrees but no skills. They have certificates but no competence. They have education but no knowledge. This is not education. This is fraud.
Dr. Anjali Sharma, an education researcher, explains: 'Our education system is designed to produce robots, not thinkers. We teach students to memorize, not to understand. We test them on facts, not on skills. We produce graduates who can't think, can't innovate, can't solve problems.'
The problem starts early. In primary schools, children are taught to memorize multiplication tables, not to understand multiplication. In secondary schools, they're taught to memorize formulas, not to understand concepts. In colleges, they're taught to pass exams, not to learn skills.
The result? Engineers who can't code. Doctors who can't diagnose. Teachers who can't teach. Lawyers who can't argue. Graduates who can't do anything except pass exams.
But here's what they don't tell you: the system is designed this way. It's designed to produce obedient workers, not independent thinkers. It's designed to maintain the status quo, not to challenge it. It's designed to create followers, not leaders.
The cost is not just individual. It's national. It's the brain drain, our best students leave because they can't get quality education here. It's the skill gap, companies can't find skilled workers. It's the innovation deficit, we can't compete globally because we can't innovate.
The solution is not in building more schools or more colleges. It's in reforming the system. It's in teaching critical thinking, not rote learning. It's in testing skills, not facts. It's in producing thinkers, not memorizers.
But until that happens, 1.4 billion people will keep getting a substandard education. 1.4 billion people will keep being failed by the system. And India will keep ranking 73rd.