Running the rule
over schools
Nick Keith offers readers a UK educational guide from primary school to university.
L
et’s start with some good news. The quality of UK education is better than it is often portrayed in the media. In 2018 the UK was ranked sixth in the world by Pearson, the multinational educational publishing company. In Europe only Finland heads the UK, which holds a high place partly because of the strength of its university and higher education offering. The West still lags behind South Korea, Japan, Singapore and Hong Kong. This reflects the economic growth of those countries, according to John Fallon, CEO of Pearson. It also reflects the culture of Asian countries, where the status of the
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individual is embedded in the family and the community – interpendence compared with the West, which tends to favour independence and individualism. 6 tips on research The best tip for parents is to research thoroughly at every stage of their child’s education. Today the pressure for places is strong, in good state schools as well as private schools, so check out what is available in both sectors. 1. Start your research by deciding what education is for. Do some online research, read some books and watch some 20-minute TED talks, especially
on creativity in education by Sir Ken Robinson. He is a British educationist who lives in the US and whose TED talk has been watched by 57 million people since it was first broadcast in 2006. He doesn’t have all the answers, but he asks some interesting questions. 2. When you have looked at prospective schools online and read their brochures, visit some of them. Try to meet the head, the teachers and some pupils. Ask open questions to which the reply cannot be given in one word – the students will often give the most interesting answers.
