A huge praise for the education system from Telegram CEO, Pavel Durov, and he credits that to the 'Soviet-style' with which China ensures fierce competition within students. Writing on X, Durov said that there is no wonder why China and its startup, DeepSeek, have taken strides in AI success, which could be said better than many counterparts, including in the United States.
Durov noted that DeepSeek's tremendous progress in AI technology, particularly with regard to algorithmic efficiency, often surprised observers, and especially where open competitions were involved, such as OpenAI. He argued that such success was not accidental but rather resulted from the strong stimulation of math and programming from early on in China. "Chinese students have long outperformed others in math and programming at international olympiads", Durov stated. He further emphasized that China's secondary education system is better than the Western systems in producing high achievers in math and science, which is due to its emphasis on competition a principle borrowed from the Soviet education model.
However, Durov also criticized Western schools for not letting students compete. He argued that while hiding grades may be to reduce pressure on students, demotivation could be created for the best. "Victory and defeat are two sides of the same coin. Eliminate the losers and you eliminate the winners", he said.
Durov stressed that real-world competition, reflected in public AI benchmarks like those showcasing DeepSeek's superiority, is essential for fostering excellence. He warned that unless the U.S. education system undergoes significant reform, China's dominance in technology would continue to grow
