''2 Million Minutes'' is a series of

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in te ...

s exploring how students in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, and the

People’s Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

spend the nominal 2,000,000 minutes of their

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

years. The film has been supported by Newt Gingrich and

Al Sharpton Alfred Charles Sharpton Jr. (born October 3, 1954) is an American civil rights activist, Baptist minister, talk show host and politician. Sharpton is the founder of the National Action Network. In 2004, he was a candidate for the Democrati ...

Chapters

, four chapters have been produced.

Chapter 1: 2 Million Minutes: A Global Examination

Chapter 1 describes the different emphasis students, parents, and teachers put on socialization, academic rigor, and discipline in the three countries. This chapter of the film compares high school students from three countries, India, China and the United States. The film seems to focus on stereotypes of the study habits and social behaviors of students from these different countries. For example, the story looks at how American students natural proclivity to extra-curricular activities like student government and sports teams versus Chinese and Indian students' dedication to additional prep work and hobbies like playing instruments.

Chapter 2: 2 Million Minutes: In India

Chapter 2 describes the Indian K-12 education system. Filmed one year after Chapter 1, it rejoins the two American students and the two Indian students for a discussion. The film also features an interview with the principal of St. Paul's English school, Sundari Rao.

Chapter 3: 2 Million Minutes: In China

Chapter 3 describes the Chinese K-12 education system. Filmed one year after Chapter 1, it rejoins the two American students and the two Chinese students for a discussion. The film also features an interview with the headmaster of

Xiwai International School Xiwai International School is an international school in Shanghai, China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous ...

, Dr. Lin.

Chapter 4: 2 Million Minutes: The 21st Century Solution

Chapter 4 advocates some solutions for the United States to become competitive in education.

References

American documentary films Documentary films about high school {{bio-documentary-film-stub