That China is aeons ahead of India in quality of life is obvious to any Indian who has lived here for even six months. Nevertheless, the fact that villagers continue to pour into cities for work, leaving their children behind in the care of old grandparents, and that one gets glimpses of polluted rivers and garbage heaps while travelling through the countryside, make one believe that, in this respect, maybe China is not too far ahead of India.
But the latest news to come out of a remote mountain village dispels that comforting thought. It shows children taking a cable car to school. These children would trek three hours to reach the nearest school through narrow muddy mountain paths and roughly-built steps. Then, in 2018, it was decided to develop the area as a tourist spot. By 2022, a cliff-side elevator and a cable car to take tourists to the top of what is known as the `grand canyon became operational. But these were not just used by well-heeled tourists. They were made available free of cost to the residents of the two villages that fell under the 'grand canyon' tourist area. Additionally, the State-owned power company provided electricity round the clock for these services. Now the trip to school includes a bus, an elevator ride and finally a ride in the "cloud school bus" as the cable car is called by the children. Going to school itself has become an adventure; naturally, both attendance and performance have gone up. An interesting addition has been the discovery by the children that, seen from above, their villages are breathtakingly beautiful.
This may be a one-off phenomenon, but would such a facility ever be available free of cost for poor village children in India?
Wide chasm
There is another development that shows the vast gulf between China and India. Last month, the ministry of education issued a directive to provincial education authorities to promote science education right from primary school, that is, for children aged 6-12 years. Train and hire more science teachers in primary schools; appoint a "vice principal of science" in every school from among the country s scientists and university professors; increase labs and ensure proficiency in experiments by the time students reach middle school -- all these are part of China's goal of becoming a global leader in education by 2035.
Developing a scientific temper has been one of our Directive Principles since 1950. But the opposite has taken place in the last 10 years in our universities and schools. In China, on the other hand, this directive is likely to be pursued seriously. The country is already number one in terms of scientific research papers. Its funding to universities is only increasing, while India's is decreasing. More importantly, thanks to 30 years of Mao's rule, belief in superstitions and the supernatural, even among the common people, is far lower compared to India, even though it has been gaining ground over the last decade as the market economy flourishes and ideology fades away.
One reason for China's strides in research, including Artificial Intelligence, is the reversal of its brain drain. For a variety of reasons, primary among which was Donald Trump's witch-hunt against Chinese academics in his first term as president, Chinese who’ve pursued science education in the United States of America are returning home in the thousands. Most of them are from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard. Boosting their decision is China's National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars, which helps them conduct research.
Meanwhile, Indians have replaced the Chinese as the largest group of foreign students in the US. Indians are also on top in H-1B visa applications. It is a gulf too far to bridge..