There are significant differences between India and the US when it comes to the school syllabus.

For the starters, Indian school syllabus is much more theoretical with very little room for creativity. On the contrary, in the USA, school syllabus is more practical that allows room for creative thinking and real-world application.

While the American school syllabus may seem “light”, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s easier. In fact, with exposure to the practical knowledge, students are more well-groomed than ours.

(Courtesy: CNN)

In the US, schools also encourage students to acquire knowledge and experience outside the campus, through field trips, fairs, and research projects. We don’t have any of that thing here in India.

They encourage extra-curricular activities like sports, arts, cultures. Indian school syllabus burdens students with books and books and some more books. Indian students don’t get time to do virtually anything outside theory-based studies.

(Courtesy: About Smapse)

The school syllabus in India rewards students for memorizing. In the US, the syllabus promotes and rewards critical thinking. It aims to ensure students grow intellectually and experience-wise – and not just remember the sentences, formulas, and dates.

Of course, there’s also a big difference in how technology is used and incorporated in the syllabus. They have the cutting-edge infrastructure and advanced techs; so the school curriculum is designed accordingly. (Like they use better animation and presentations!) In India, our schools – even in cities – lack technology-equipped infrastructure.

(Courtesy: Business Insider)

Most importantly, US school syllabus makes it very clear that there’s much more for students outside school syllabus. Yes, grades are important there. But how students win those grades – the pathway is more practical. In India, our education system tells students that blindly following the syllabus is everything. Our schools, in a way, are producing workers who know how to supplement a problem at work – they are not producing leaders. And this is perhaps the biggest difference between the school syllabus in India and the US.

(Courtesy: News18)

This is why the New Education Policy 2020 in India excites me. It aims to make the school curriculum more practical. It promotes vocational students; it promotes extracurricular activities; it promotes digital adoption in schools; it promotes enrichment activities like quizzes and sports than just theories; it promotes the focus on creative ideas, critical thinking, and problem-solving.

(Courtesy: Patrika)

There’s a lot of good in the New Education Policy 2020 that aims to fix the Indian school ecosystem. Of course, the policy has its cons as well. But that’s a different conversation. (Read more on New Education Policy 2020 here)

Also, it’s worth noting whether this policy can even be implemented in Indian schools or not. The majority of our schools in the country have poor infrastructure. I am sure most of the teachers might not even be aware of this policy, and that’s not their mistake. We don’t have a straight line of communication and implementation. India is good at announcing – we’re bad in execution. So, will this policy be executed well across the country? I am not sure; we’ll have to wait and see.

But coming to school syllabus in India and the USA, there’s a big difference. We lag in almost every vertical. Our education system is not good; worse comparing to other developed and developing nations.