In today’s talking points,China’s young people seek further education over conventional employment;Chinese government turns its attention to the urban rural education divide; International education and brain drain: Chinese students set sights abroad;and British primary schools to follow Chinese style of maths teaching.
China’s young people seek further education over conventional employment
Over half of China’s young people of working age are not seeking conventional long-term employment, with 25 percent saying they plan to undertake further studies.A Tencent report found 48 percent of young people surveyed said they were seeking to further their education both in China and abroad, start their own businesses or work in emerging areas like technology start-ups.The report found 15 percent of young people planned to study overseas, while 25 percent planned to undertake further study domestically.The US and Japan led the list of international study destinations, followed by Australia and Canada.
Read more at China.org.
Chinese government turns its attention to the urban rural education divide
At a conference on Tuesday, Vice-Minister of education, Liu Limin said that the Chinese government is working to eliminate the education gap between rural and urban schools by 2020. “In many places of China, rural areas lag far behind urban areas in education resources,” Liu said. “This has led to an unbalanced situation where schools in rural areas are weak in education while their counterparts in urban areas are crowded. “The ministry of education, in conjunction with housing and human resources departments, plan to build standardized schools improving facilities in rural schools and raise income for rural school teachers.
Read more at China Daily.
International education and brain drain: Chinese students set sights abroad
The rapid growth in Chinese students undertaking higher education abroad is creating a brain drain, with many of the brightest not returning. International study has become an ambition of the masses, with 57 percent of parents saying they would send their children abroad to study if they could afford it, according to the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences. High-quality education from universities in the US, UK and Australia can deliver obvious benefits to China as it seeks to transform its economy – but of the four million students who have left China to study since 1978, over half have not returned, according to the education ministry. And while this number is but a drop in the ocean compared to the millions who enter domestic universities each year, those leaving are increasingly the richest and brightest.
Read more at The Economist.
British primary schools to follow Chinese style of maths teaching
The British Department of Education announced that half of all British primary schools will adopt a style of maths teaching, used by leading maths performers including Shanghai, Hong Kong and Singapore. £41 million over 4 years has been allocated to help 8000 schools implement the ‘maths mastery’ approach. This method involves whole class teaching rather than separation of students into ability-based classes. It emphasizes teacher-led pedagogy and the use of high-quality textbooks. There is a focus on pure mathematics and constant repetition techniques. Britain’s Secretary of State Nick Gibb, said “(He is) confident that the steps (Britain is) taking now will ensure young people are properly prepared for further study and the 21st – century workplace, and that the too often heard phrase ‘ can’t do maths’ is consigned to the past”.
Read more at The Telegraph.