I agree with most of the thing mentioned in this article but it is not right to compare with American system of education. First of all the taxing system in US is such that when you buy a housing property the taxes include the taxes for education and hence all children of school going age must by law complete high school. However since there are no common board exam like the HSC exam mentioned in the article no one is able to tell whether 39% failed or passed the high school. Most students in the US complete their high school (XII grade) and have a great pompous ceremony and celebrations for graduation. Ultimately when they seek admission to college many have to undertake pre-requisite courses. This is a nice sugar coated way of saying that you have failed in your high school. Many a times the students lose interest as they lose time doing these prerequisites and as said by you there are different paths available and ultimately they are dropouts from college and maybe become car dealers. It is the same situation in India too, those who are not able to meet the challanges of the education system finally pursue other vocation most suitable to their abilities.
