'US-returned' solution.

The Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2024, released on 24 January, showed that "the arithmetic capabilities of the elementary age group, comprising of children aged 6 to 14 years, have improved substantially since 2018." Class 3 students who can do one numerical subtraction jumped from 28.2% in 2018 (pre-Covid) and 25.9% in 2022 (post-Covid) to 33.7% in 2024. HT. Enrollment of children in the 6-14 age group dropped from 72.9% in 2022 to 66.8% in 2024 in government schools, even as the overall rate of enrollment stayed at 98.1%, suggesting a shift towards private schools. TOI. Shows the commitment of parents toward children's education. "India has once again declined to participate in PISA or Programme for International Student Assessment conducted by the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) every three years." It tests 15-year-old students in mathematics, reading and science. In 2009, India ranked 73rd, second last to Kazakhstan, and has opted out ever since. "Over 90 countries will participate in PISA 2025." The Wire. In February 2024, "BJP has emphasized Prime Minister Narendra Modi's commitment to position India as the 'Vishwa Guru' (teacher to the world) in the global order." ET. Surely, our children must learn to read and subtract before they can teach the world. Can't teach ignorance. Even students at college levels are ignorant of basics, wrote Prof Shobhit Mahajan. "The Covid-19  pandemic forced most education online. This was disastrous" because students stopped reading books and prefer to learn from short videos on YouTube which "they think gives them the essence of the topic." "We still don't get it," wrote Prof Dipankar Gupta. We want to emulate South Korea but we ignore the fact that "Korea spends 5% of its GDP on R&D, whereas India only 0.7%. Of this small sum, the Indian private sector contributes a niggardly 41% against Korea's 79%. Tellingly, Samsung invests 8-11% on R&D and Reliance a paltry 0.6%." "For the first time in Nov, services exports were provisionally estimated by the commerce ministry at $35.7 billion, higher than merchandise exports pf $32.1 billion. Software services were the biggest contributors, with 47% of the total." Pune Consultant Wizmatic estimated that "over 1,500 GCCs (Global Capability Centers) employ 3.2 million Indians (mostly engineers and scientists), generate revenues of $121 billion, and export $102 billion," wrote Swaminathan SA Aiyar. President Donald Trump wants to end birthright citizenship for children of foreigners. This could result in a reverse migration of skilled professionals back to India and persuade multinationals to start more GCCs or expand existing ones in India, thus creating wealth in India instead of for the US, wrote Adya Madhavan. How will that benefit India without increased R&D? Only create a new class of 'US-returned' aristocrats. And jealousy.