Vivek Ramaswamy: China, Singapore students years ahead of US students

Indian American Ohio governor candidate says, “We can’t ignore the educational achievement crisis anymore

By Arun Kumar

Lamenting that students in China and Singapore are years ahead of  American students, Indian American biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy says “We can’t ignore the educational achievement crisis anymore.”

“Students in China are 4 years ahead of ours here. Students in Singapore are a full 5 years ahead,” said Ramaswamy who has made education a major issue of his campaign for Ohio governor in 2026.

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Three fourths “of U.S. 8th graders aren’t in proficient in math,” he said. “Shutting down the failed U.S. Dept of Education is a good first step, but it’s going to fall on the states to fix the problem.”

Ramaswamy, 39, who briefly ran against President Donald Trump in the Republican presidential primary before becoming his avid supporter recently irked the Republicans by suggesting American culture worshipped mediocrity.

Trump has tasked his Education Secretary Linda McMahon to wrap up the department of education. Tesla Chief Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has cut dozens of contracts that it deemed “woke” and wasteful.

Ramaswamy, who co-led DOGE with Tesla before announcing his run for Ohio governor spoke against US culture while explaining why tech companies in the US rely more on foreign talents.

His justification was that US culture, its education system do not produce the best engineers and hence the companies have to rely on H-1B workers.

Ramaswamy’s exit from DOGE was said to be a fallout of his clash with Elon Musk, but both Donald Trump and Musk endorsed him for his bid for Ohio Governor.

Ramaswamy appears to be an early Republican favorite in the 2026 Ohio governor’s race, according to a poll conducted in February by the Bowling Green State University (BGSU) Democracy and Public Policy Research Network and YouGov. It shows Ramaswamy leading the pack of Republican candidates in the race, with 61% support from prospective party primary voters in Ohio.