The world’s two most populous nations, China and India, began their paths toward globalization in the early 1990s, achieving rapid economic growth and lifting millions out of poverty. However, despite these shared milestones, China’s per capita income now significantly surpasses India’s, even when adjusted for purchasing power. This disparity is attributed to the distinct routes taken by each country toward modernization, particularly in education.
Divergent Approaches to Globalization
China and India pursued different strategies to engage with the global economy. China focused on becoming the “world’s factory,” producing a range of goods from basic electronics to advanced technologies like electric vehicles and semiconductors. India, on the other hand, leaned into its strengths in service sectors, particularly in computer software.
Beyond economic strategy, the nations’ demographic patterns differed. China’s strict one-child policy led to a significant youth population that spurred rapid growth, while India’s ongoing population boom has yet to be fully matched by job creation. Political systems have also influenced their paths—China’s single-party governance contrasts sharply with India’s multiparty democracy.
The Role of Education in Economic Trajectories
A crucial aspect often overlooked is how both nations embraced modern education. In their paper The Making of China and India in the 21st Century, scholars Nitin Kumar Bharti and Li Yang from the Paris School of Economics’ World Inequality Lab examine historical data to shed light on this topic.
The researchers discovered that in 1900, India had a student body eight times larger than China’s, bolstered by a 50-year head start in exposure to Western education. China’s educational system only began to modernize significantly after the abolition of its imperial examination system in 1905, signaling a departure from Confucian teachings. By the 1930s, China had caught up to India in terms of overall school enrollment.
Post-1950 Educational Developments
The pace of educational reform accelerated in China following the formation of the People’s Republic in 1949. Despite the disruptions of the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976), which stunted undergraduate education, secondary schooling continued to expand. By the early 1980s, India had a college enrollment ratio five times that of China’s. However, by 2020, China had surged ahead, enrolling a significantly larger share of its university-age population compared to India.
Historical Influences on Educational Focus
The roots of these different educational trajectories date back to historical influences. In late-19th-century China, the Qing dynasty emphasized vocational training to support military production. In contrast, British colonial rulers in India aimed to produce clerks and lower-level administrators, limiting educational access to elite sections of society. After independence in 1947, India maintained this bias, investing in prestigious colleges rather than ensuring widespread basic education.
Bharti and Yang’s study shows that in the 1960s, half of India’s population remained illiterate, compared to just 10% in China. In rural India, inadequate educational infrastructure led many children to drop out early, either due to the absence of teachers or the need to contribute to family labor.
Vocational Training vs. Elite Education
China’s success in fostering economic growth can be partially attributed to its bottom-up educational strategy. This approach ensured that a significant number of young students completed at least five years of basic education, progressively moving to secondary and tertiary education. By the 1930s, China began reducing its focus on humanities and business in favor of engineering, teaching, and scientific fields. This shift laid the groundwork for the skilled labor force that supported the country’s later industrial expansion.
India, meanwhile, continued to produce a high proportion of social science graduates, which, while valuable, did not directly align with the needs of rapid industrialization. This is in line with a 1991 study by Kevin Murphy, Andrei Shleifer, and Robert Vishny, which noted that nations seeking swift expansion benefit more from an increase in engineers rather than lawyers or social scientists.
The Long-Term Impact
The belief that India is the “land of engineers” holds some truth, particularly given the prominence of Indian-born tech CEOs leading major companies like Microsoft and Alphabet. However, Bharti and Yang’s findings suggest that China’s broader base of engineering and vocational graduates played a more substantial role in bolstering its competitive edge in manufacturing and infrastructure development.
The legacy of education policy in each country extends beyond formal schooling. In 1976, China’s adult education programs reached 160 million people who had previously missed formal schooling, a stark contrast to the mere 1 million enrolled in India. The cumulative effect of educating this population contributed significantly to China’s productivity and growth.
Conclusion
The divergent educational strategies of China and India, rooted in history and policy, have had profound effects on their economic trajectories. China’s focus on comprehensive and vocational education facilitated its emergence as a global manufacturing powerhouse. Meanwhile, India’s emphasis on elite tertiary education without a broad foundation has limited its ability to leverage its vast population for industrial growth. This analysis highlights the importance of a well-rounded and inclusive educational approach for fostering sustainable economic development.
