The Two Million Minutes Blog

Hello India? I Need Help With My Math!

Well, it has happened again, today! Another interesting article about India's place in the growing global economy. With the flattening world, the opportunities for new ways of conducting business and personal life seem endless. This article introduces some unique businesses and how Indians' are playing a significant role in this new flattening world.

October 31, 2007 - New York Times - click here for the article.

Innovation in India - It is happening FASTER than one thinks!

There probably isn't a day that goes by where India is not mentioned or covered in one of the leading newspapers in the U.S. Being born and raised in India (I migrated to U.S. in 1990) and having caught the 'startup-bug' seven years ago, I read with keen interest any articles that combines 'innovation' and 'India'.

Here is an unique article that appeared first in the New York Times yesterday (October 30, 2007). While this article might sound routine to a number of us, you must read the last two paragraphs - then you would realize the powerful message (Indians put a lot of emphasis on Education, regardless of socio-economic status) contained in our documentary film. 

Here are the two paragraphs -

"He earns $100 a month. Jobs come irregularly, so he often spends up to three months of the year idle. Between jobs, he borrows from loan sharks to feed his wife and children. The usurers levy 10 percent monthly interest, enough to make a $100 loan a $314 debt in one year.

Mr. Manohar does not want his children to know his worries, or his life. He wants them to work in a nice office, so he spends nearly half his income on private schools for them. That is why he was at Babajob in a swiveling chair, staring at a computer and dreaming of more work."

Here is the link to the full article. You can also download a copy here.

What Leading Newspapers say about US Education!

As my partner Bob and I embarked on this 'journey' to document how the three countries - India, China and U.S. - are preparing its students for the future, we began to notice a number of leading newspapers in the U.S. starting to document the various challenges in the U.S. education system - lack of standards, lack of trained teachers, lack of continuous testing etc.

While there are too many articles for a single post, here are a few recent ones from newspapers such as The Wall Street Journal, San Francisco Chronicle and news outlets such as the Associated Press.

1. School Graduation Rates - New Fed Priority -- Associated Press - October 29, 2007
2. American kids, dumber than dirt -- San Francisco Chronicle, October 24, 2007
3. Worse Than You Think - The Wall Street Journal, Online Edition, October 24, 2007

Our intent is to create a national dialog about the state of U.S. education and the need for our schools to develop students that can compete globally in the 21st century. To that effect, if you come across articles that would be of interest, be sure to let us know - we will get them linked!

Check out the coverage of the film in the Press and Blogs

We have been conducting private screening of the film since the first week of October. We are thrilled by the positive feedback we have received as well as the coverage in the press and various blogs. Here is a sampling -

1. Partnership for Learning - How Our Students Spend their Two Million Minutes?
2. Learning at Home Blog - Two Million Minutes - Life in High School
3. HomeSchool2.0Blog - Two Million Minutes of High School
4. Memphis Daily News - Local Venture Capitalist Makes Documentary
5. CreativeU - Two Million Minutes of High School
6. Education Week - Two Million Minutes of High School
7. Indianapolis Star - Clock is Ticking for U.S. Students

We have a number of exciting events planned for the months of November and December - so, be sure to check back often!

Co-Producer Suresh Murthy Screens 2MM in Bangalore

I had the chance to travel to Bangalore, India on business in October (from Oct 13 to Oct 20, 2007). As part of the trip, I had planned to meet with the families of Apoorva and Rohit (the two Indian students in the film).

After spending over 24 hours traveling, I could not wait to meet with the two students and their families/friends to preview the film for the first time. We finally got together on Sunday, October 14th at 11am.

I had participated in the filming of these two students in November 2006 - a lot has taken place since my last meeting with them. Both have successfully graduated from high school and both have enrolled in Engineering programs in Bangalore. Needless to say, they were very excited to preview the film.

After a quick two minute introduction, we started to watch the film (and the excitement started as well!). What was planned as a 90 minute meeting, was running well past the 3 hour mark - my good friend Jai, who had let us use his office for the screening, ordered in lunch and the discussion was under way.

Apoorva and Rohit were clearly impressed and awed by this experience - seeing themselves next to the students from China and US clearly provided a broader perspective. As they say in the film, they continue to believe that children in India spend more time in school and by necessity and priority, they set aside their extra-curricular activities in favor of their education.

I heard many things (questions, comments, observations) in the course of the screening - here are some key points that were made:

1. Both the students felt they work VERY hard and competition is ONLY RISING - not slowing down
2. They were surprised that the Chinese students actually work harder than Indian students
3. Their parents feel fortunate that their children have better opportunities when compared to their generation (Apoorva's dad is a chemical engineer and he is the generation that was born right after India's independence)
4. They were all PUZZLED by the somewhat 'casual' nature of American schools (they still admit Americans are fortunate to have an environment that fosters risk-taking and pursuing your 'dreams')
5. One observation that is close to my heart - the parents, relatives, and teachers in India make SIGNIFICANT sacrifices to ensure that children excel in their academics. I heard one of the parents remark that they would avoid social gatherings such as marriages or hindu holidays to make sure that there was no distraction to their children when preparing for exams. [this was true in my family some 25 years ago - some things have not changed!]
6. They all admired the American student's 'self-confidence'
7. There were very LIVELY debates amongst the families - this highlights an important trend that I see in India - where children are growing up with SIGNIFICANT independence and pursuing their ambitions. [Of course, Apoorva's dad was quick to point out that 'as long as she completes her 4-year degree, she can pursue any career she wishes to' !]

Apoorva's sister was full of questions for me - to the point where we agreed to screen the film one more time for her friends. And we did just that on October 16th, 2007.

One of the key questions that was raised - how do we (this generation of Indian children) overcome the barrier of 'failure' and take risks just the way Americans do?

While we as Americans can take comfort in the fact that India lags behind in its ability to take risk (and risk it all), I must admit that India is not far behind. There is a serious transition taking place - students in high school are planning to start companies; more and more universities are setting up 'new venture' incubation centers; parents in their late 40s and early 50s are 'coming out of the shell' and investing in their children with the idea of them taking risks; 'failure' is not being viewed as a social stigma.

In conclusion, the feedback from India was very positive, generated lots of questions and observations and more importantly created a dialog amongst the viewers on the opportunities that lie ahead of students such as Rohit and Apoorva. I came away with the feeling that Indians' are hungry and fundamentally believe that they have to compete GLOBALLY.

Presidential Leadership Is Needed - NOW

Vivek Wadwha sees an opportunity to re-energize and re-focus America's education system through Presidential leadership similar to what America experienced after Sputnik, using the global challenge of world climate risk as the catalyst.

President Kennedy's vision in 1961 to put a man on the moon within the decade was an inspiring challenge to Americans. Through his leadership, America organized the engineering, science and math education necessary to meet that challenge.

Today, the U.S. public needs to look for that high caliber of leadership in the current field of presidential candidates - who has the inspirational capacity to fire our imaginations and to inspire us to action with bold economic and scientific goals that raise our educational expectations?

The 2008 Candidates' Education Vision

Hillary Clinton              Mitt Romney

Barack Obama             Rudy Giuliani

John Edwards              Mike Huckabee

Bill Richardson            John McCain

Joe Biden                   Fred Thompson

       

Dr. Richard Freeman

Harvard University economist Richard Freeman sees the silver lining in Global Warming - the chance for Americans to create the new technologies and new companies that will address the growing problems associated with climate change and environmental damage.

America is still the best in the world at high-tech entrepreneurship. Our culture has a tolerance for risk and failure, much more so than India or China and we have a culture of innovation and new venture creation.

A entrepreneur who recognizes an opportunity for a new product can mobilize capital and people resources faster in the U.S. than in any other country.

But if the American lacks sufficient technical expertise -- due to educational deficiencies - to even imagine how a new technology might solve an environmental issue, then no U.S. company is formed and the economic benefits are never realized.

Dr. Shirley Jackson - Where Are The Economic Opportunities for Americans?

Dr. Shirley Jackson, President of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, offers some ideas on where the future economic opportunities might be for American students.

She points to the potential for The Green Revolution - products and services that reduce or eliminate harmful emissions or that produce energy more efficiently. But these are jobs that require a strong foundation in math and science - not just to create the products, but also to sell, market, install and service them.

If American students fail to get a solid intellectual foundation in high school, however, there is little prospect for entering the filed of environmental products and services.

Vivek Wadwha on What US Students Should Do

An Executive-in-Residence at Duke University, Vivek Wadwha has founded two software companies in the U.S. He encourages students to look beyond America's borders to see with whom they will being competing for the high wage, high value careers of the 21st century.

Robert Reich on Skills for the Future

Robert Reich speaks about changing our paradigm for education, teaching less in "silos of knowledge" and more cross-disciplinary combined with richer interaction and interpersonal skills.