‘Indian Schools Teach You to Be Poor’: Financial Analyst Slams Education System for Producing Workers, Not Wealth Builders
Hyderabad-based financial analyst Hardik Joshi has sparked debate online after sharply criticizing the Indian school system for failing to teach students how to build real wealth. In a recent post on LinkedIn, Joshi argued that traditional education is designed to create compliant workers rather than empowered entrepreneurs.
“School teaches us how to be safe. How to be compliant. How to minimize risk,” Joshi wrote. “It doesn’t teach us how to create wealth.”
According to Joshi, while schools may briefly touch on budgeting, saving, and sometimes even basic interest calculations, they neglect critical tools of wealth-building such as entrepreneurship, negotiation, and investment. “We’re taught how to manage money, not how to make it work for us,” he noted.
Joshi identified what he sees as a deeper issue: a mindset shaped by scarcity rather than opportunity. “Real wealth-building is about understanding risk, not avoiding it,” he explained. “It’s about moving beyond just paying the bills and learning to grow assets.”
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He further argued that even modern financial literacy programs fail to go far enough. “They teach how to manage your salary, not how to escape needing one,” Joshi wrote. “They focus on budgeting your small slice of the pie, not on learning how to own the bakery.”
While clarifying that he is not dismissing education itself, Joshi emphasized the need to recognize its limitations. “There’s a difference between learning about money and learning to build wealth,” he concluded. “If you want the second one, don’t expect school to give it to you. That lesson you’ll have to seek for yourself.”
Joshi’s post has since drawn widespread attention, resonating with many who share concerns about gaps in India’s financial education system.
