Having seen education systems in both China and the US, I actually have a different view. The Chinese students (so are most students in developing countries) are bombarded with school work at early ages, so that they are indeed quite advanced in maths/science. However that takes away the time to develop their creativity and communication skills. Kids in the US however, are more encouraged to focus on creativity, development of personal and social skills. Meanwhile, students with talent in maths/science are still given the opportunity to seek more challenges in these areas. Which system is better? We can see the result - India/China are producing scientists, who come to the US to work in hi-tech areas. The US education system is producing business leaders and financial engineers (remember the creativity part? These rankings of maths/science really don't mean a whole lot in terms of future competitiveness of a country. there are a lot more other factors that are much more important.
And yet we spend more money on education than anyone else in the world. What does that tell you? That throwing money in the school system DOESNT WORK! I remember hearing something in the news a few months back about how now they dont want to give F's to students, they just want to give them "incomplete's" because an "F" might hurt the students "self-esteem" Maybe if we hurt their self-esteem like they do in other countries, the kids might work harder to get it back. I mean, why would a kid even try in school if he has high self-esteem. No...this "I deserve it because im me" attitude has got to stop. Cut Education by 50%, make parents pay the difference and In 1 year we will be #1 in math/science and everything else, because the parents will beat those kids if they had to waste money for them to get an F in school. Then the kids will get A's just out of fear.
Maybe if the generations before hadn't been so stupid with their government created education programs, the kids today wouldn't be so dumb. The government is getting exactly what it's paying for. If they wanted something different, they would change it. They don't want our kids to be smart. They want them dumb and forced into either service or servitude.
the fact that the US has ~800 military bases in 130 countries to secure global resources probably plays a larger role in our global competitiveness and prosperity.
Our public school system is a complete travesty. It's very sad actually because as someone else pointed out, it's not due to a lack of funding.
As an engineer, I agree. Strength in math/science, while necessary to some extent does not translate into a more financially/economially successful populous. Major advances are always the result of creative and unique thinking. Engineering is problem solving (sometimes very creative problem solving), but engineering in of itself is not resposible for the origination of new groundbreaking products/ideas. The scientists/engineers do the difficult work - we build it and make sure it works like it should - but - the concept/idea always comes from higher up, i.e. from the creative contingent. Think of it in terms of the work/effort relationship. Trading, a highly creative endeavour, allows unlimited income potential for very little "work". An engineer works for the salary/hourly rate, as does a doctor or lawyer. No matter the hours worked, an engineer always gets a fixed income. IMO, the more creative the endeavour, the more financial potential. Mike
is it any surprise when you have kids indoctrinated from birth not to trust science: GALLUP NEWS SERVICE PRINCETON, NJ -- A recent Gallup Poll shows that almost half of Americans believe that human beings did not evolve, but were created by God in their present form within the last 10,000 years or so.