President George W Bush issued a grim warning to American children on Tuesday: Better develop the skills in math and science to compete with Indian and Chinese children, else new jobs will go off to the two Asian giants.
In a renewed push to his recently-launched Competitiveness Initiative, Bush made no bones about the growing challenge from India and China in the job market.
"If you're living in Midland, Texas, or living in Montgomery County, Maryland, it's important to understand if children don't have those skill sets needed to compete with a child from India, or a child from China, the new jobs will be going there," he told students of a magnet school in Washington's outskirts.
"In order to make sure that the US remains the leader of the world, we have got to continue our focus in education on high standards, accountability and a new focus — an intense focus on math and science — just like what's happening in this school," he said.
Bush made it clear that he means business. Earlier in the day, he signed an executive order, establishing a National Math Panel and proposing a new programme, called "Math Now". By next January, the panel will report how best to teach math in American schools.
{{/usCountry}}Bush made it clear that he means business. Earlier in the day, he signed an executive order, establishing a National Math Panel and proposing a new programme, called "Math Now". By next January, the panel will report how best to teach math in American schools.
{{/usCountry}}"We ought to have 30,000 and science professionals in our classrooms over the next eight years," he said.