Patrons and 100%.

"In February this year, the Union ministry of education informed the Lok Sabha that 750,365 new students flew abroad for higher studies in 2022, the highest number in six years, and 161,642 more than in 2019. Confirmation comes from another quarter, as online platform Yocket found a total of 1.32 million studying abroad in 2022, up from 1.14 million in 2021. Gurugram-based Redseer Strategy Consultants expect the number to go up to 1.8 million by 2024." May be because good students are being beaten by mediocre ones. Because, "It's a common experience that students are scoring higher marks in state and national school leaving ('Board') exams today than they have in the past," wrote Sridhar Rajagopalan. Why have students become so clever? "In many states, students from both state and central Boards compete for college seats." Boards compete to give higher marks to their examinees to help them score higher than students of other Boards. "Today, it is common for the highest score in each subject to be 100% or very close, often with the overall highest score also nearly 100%." Boards do this by "diluting paper difficulty and types of questions to ensure enough students can score high marks. They also make mark-sheet corrections more lenient and provide grace marks." When marks become so important parents resort to private tuition for their children. "The current market revenue of the coaching industry in India is Rs 58,088 crore (Rs 580.88 billion), according to Infinium Global Research, a consultancy firm based in Pune. The coaching industry's growth is projected to reach Rs 1,33,995 crore (Rs 1.34 trillion) by 2028."The Print. Byju's is an online coaching, or edtech, company. "Founded in 2011, Byju's launched its learning app in 2015." BBC. However, "Valued at $22bn last year, Byju's has seen its valuation slashed to $5.1bn this year by Prosus NV, the company's biggest investor and shareholder." As "in recent months, the company has been dogged by complaints as parents accused it of not fulfilling its promises - coercing them into buying courses they couldn't afford and then not providing the promised services. Some also said that the firm used predatory practices to exploit customers." Desperate children and parents are easy prey for sharks. "Business is booming in India's $117 billion education industry and new colleges are popping up at breakneck speed." Bloomberg. "Yet thousands of young Indians are finding themselves graduating with limited or no skills," as "Desperate to get ahead, some of these young Indians are paying for two or three degrees in the hopes of finally landing a job." Teachers are being recruited, not for their knowledge, but for political affiliation in recognised universities, wrote Apoorvanand. "If you do not have patrons in any faction of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), then you should not even think of applying." Political teachers and 100% students. The lucky ones are abroad.