Sept. 30: The US has expressed concerns about the decline in college graduations for American youth, saying the nation is “losing” its competitive position and “future jobs” to countries such as India, which is spending heavily in the education sector.
“You saw countries like China, India and Brazil investing heavily in their education systems and in infrastructure, and where we used to be ranked number one, for example, in the proportion of college graduates, we now rank number 12” President Barack Obama said at a a public meeting in Iowa.
“So slowly all the things that had made us the most productive country on earth were starting to slip away. And we were losing that competitive position” he said. Praising India, China and Brazil for “aggressively” educating their children than ever before, Mr Obama said the US is facing tough competition from these developing nations and “sooner or later” they will move ahead of it in exports.
“I mean, you’ve got countries like China and India and Brazil that are really moving...They are exporting much more than they ever were. And so we’re having to compete at levels that we didn’t have to compete before. China, India, Japan, all these countries are thinking about new ways to find clean energy, and if we’re not the ones who get there first in terms of figuring this stuff out, then they’re the ones who are going to get the jobs of the future,” he said.
He warned if US does not pull its socks up , it will no longer be “land of opportunity” in the coming two decades.