Father calls Indian schooling system 'rotten' after son works on projects past midnight: 'Helpless parent'

An Indian parent’s criticism of the country’s education system has struck a chord online after he shared that his eighth-grade son had been regularly staying up past midnight to complete schoolwork.

Niteen S Dharmawat, an investor and co-founder of Aurum Capital, posted a video showing his son engrossed in what appeared to be an art project around midnight. Sharing the clip on X (formerly Twitter), he expressed his frustration with what he described as an oppressive academic culture.

“Schools are useless. This is 12 midnight. An 8th standard kid is still doing some nonsense project after completing homework. Terror is such that if he doesn't do it, he won't be allowed to participate in his favourite PE period,” he wrote.

Dharmawat went on to say that the workload had been affecting his child’s daily routine. “Every day he is awake till 12–12:30. As a parent, I’m feeling so helpless from this rotten system. Whatever I was against, I have to face it for my kid now,” he added.

The video has since gone viral sparking widespread debate about school pressure and parental helplessness. Hundreds of parents and professionals shared similar experiences, questioning the necessity of time-consuming assignments and projects.