There are a lot of things that countries around the world look at differently. Education is no exception.
From boarding to private, state-run and public, all countries have different policies, procedures, and customs that make them unique.
“I think going to school in other countries gives you a very different perspective, and that’s a good thing,” said Keri Glenday, Director of On-Premise Sales at Swire Coca-Cola.
Glenday spent her schooling years in both Asia and Europe, in Somerset, England, and in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and New Zealand.
State schools (that is, schools that are government-run) in Europe are similar to public schools in the U.S., and the public schools there are more similar to America’s private schools.
Along with that are the differences in prep school and senior school in England, and elementary, middle, and high school in America.
“In England, prep school is for children up to 13 years old, and then senior school is for ages 13 to 18,” Glenday said.
According to the Country Data website (www.countrydata.com), in Asian countries such as Japan, grade levels are the same as the United States, but the term “lower-secondary” relates to middle school, and “upper-secondary” relates to high school.
In Asia, focus on education starts at a very young age. Many parents enroll their children in preschool. In Europe, the case is much the same.
Virtually every industrialized country in the world provides free, high-quality preschool for children regardless of family income. In the U.S., there is more focus on child care than the learning process in preschool. Steps are being taken to change this, and also to change the funding to accommodate more families.
According to The Nation Master website (www.nationmaster.com), the U.S. is ranked number 37 on a list of educational spending. The United Kingdom is the 46th. The country that spends the most on education as a percent of their gross domestic product (GDP) is Cuba.
With everything that is happening in the Jordan District, like budget cuts, it’s easy to understand that the United States could have definite struggles with funding. In European countries however, there is a guaranteed budget for schooling. Their public schools are paid by the parents, and funding for local schools is paid by the local authority and central government.
But the real problem is class sizes. In Europe, there is more concern about the effectiveness of small classes. Some schools even have less than 15 students per teacher.
In Asian countries, it is a privilege to attend school, as it is not mandatory. Therefore, the only students that attend are the ones who want to be there. There is definitely more pressure to study and perform well, according to Glenday.
Europe and America both have compulsory education, which means that students must attend by law.
And what about the attendance policy? In Europe, it is the parents’ responsibility to keep their children in school. Under section 444 of the 1996 UK Education Act, parents may be prosecuted if their children fail to attend school.
Possible sentences for this kind of offense are fining, and in some areas, imprisonment for a few days, said Glenday.