Indian students engage more in extra classes, co-curricular activities than peers: Cambridge study

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Indian students engage in more extra classes and co-curricular activities than their peers in other countries, according to a Cambridge study.

Almost two-third of Indian students take extra tuition for key subjects after school, 72 per cent participate in co-curricular activities and 74 per cent say they play sports regularly in school.

They also rank high on the time spent doing homework, with 40 per cent spending two to four hours on their homework every day while a good 37 per cent spend the same time over the weekend too.

The findings have been revealed in Global Education Census conducted by education group Cambridge Assessment International Education (Cambridge International), which is part of the Cambridge University.

The survey, conducted with almost 20,000 teachers and students around the world, including 4,400 teachers and 3,800 students across India, gives insight into what life is like in schools around the world today for students and their teachers.

"India and China have the highest number of students taking extra classes (58 pc). Those taking extra lessons or tutoring mainly take Maths (74 pc), Physics (64 pc) and Chemistry (62 pc). Among Indian students, debating is the most popular extra curricular activity (36 pc), followed by science club (28 pc), art (25 pc) and book club (22 pc)," the report said.

The study highlighted that most Indian teachers don't feel pressurised to ensure their students perform well but they are doing everything in their power to help their students succeed.

"42 per cent teachers said they have good professional opportunities and 67 per cent find teaching to be a rewarding career. The majority of teachers surveyed in India say they help their students prepare for exams by teaching them to respond to different types of questions (73 pc). The second-most common way of offering exam help is to show their students how to plan their time in an exam (68 pc)," the study said.

The study also revealed that Indian parents have a keen interest in their children's education.

"66 per cent of Indian students said their parents ask about their school day, and over half say their parents attend school events while 41 per cent help with the parent-teacher association this is the highest proportion of any country globally," it added.