Indian and Chinese children were out-competing their American counterparts by their sheer hard work even though they were not smarter than the latter, a top Obama administration official has said.
"We are simply being out-competed by children in India and China. They are not smarter than our children. They are just working harder," Education Secretary Arne Duncan told the MSNBC television in an interview yesterday.
"I have argued very clearly, and so has the President, that our school day is too short, our school week is too short, our school year is too short," Secretary Duncan said.
Indian and Chinese students were going 30 to 40 extra days to schools annually compared to American children, he added.
"It is very well documented that certain children get to a certain point in June, thanks to the hard work of their teachers, and because nothing is going on during the summer, they come back to us in September further behind than where they left. That is heartbreaking. We have to stop that..," Duncan said, while advocating more time and enrichment as the answer to the solution.
The Education Secretary said one has to raise the bar for all students.
"Our expectations have been far too low. We have to challenge the status quo. And we have to make sure many more of our high-school graduates are actually prepared for college-level work," he said.
Noting that talent matters tremendously in education, Duncan said that good teachers and principals make a huge difference in students' lives.
Unprecedented resources would be availed for rewarding those who would excel in the education field, he said, while indicating that the new budget would have more funds for the sector.
"For some reason, in education we've been scared to do that. With this budget, we're going to have a chance to make sure we shine a spotlight, replicate, reward and learn from those phenomenal teachers and principals that are making a huge difference in the lives of our nation's children," he added.
