Brishtish Culture
BRITISH CULTURE
TOPIC: EDUCATION
EDUCATION IN BRITAIN
OUTLINE
I. Introduction.
II. Content.
2.1. British education system.
2.1.1. Organization and comparison to Vietnam.
2.1.1.1. British educational organization.
2.1.1.2. Comparison to Vietnamese educational organization.
2.1.2. Education levels and comparison to Viet Nam.
2.1.2.1. Compulsory education.
2.1.2.2. Education beyond sixteen.
2.1.2.3. Comparison to Viet Nam’s education levels.
2.2. School life.
2.2.1. School year.
2.2.2. School day.
2.2.3. Public exam.
2.2.4. Teaching method.
2.2.5. Life at school.
2.2.6. Comparison to school life in Viet Nam.
2.3. Style and comparison to Viet Nam.
2.3.1 Educational style.
2.3.2 Comparison to Viet Nam’s style.
III. Conclusion.
I. Introduction.
The basic features of the British educational system are the same as they are everywhere else in Europe: full-time education is compulsory up to the middle teenage years; the academic year begins at the end of summer; compulsory education is free of charge, but parents may spend money on educating their children privately if they want to. There are three recognized stages, with children moving from the first stage to the second stage at around the age of eleven or twelve. The third stage is “further education at university or college. However, there is a lot of which distinguishes education in Britain from the way it work in other countries. In the framework of this assignment, we look into the characteristics of the British education and comparison to ones in Viet Nam.
II. Content.
The basic features of the British educational system are the same as they are everywhere else in Europe: full-time education is compulsory up to the middle teenage years; the academic year begins at the end of summer; compulsory education is free of charge, but parents may spend money on educating their children privately if they want to. There are three recognized stages, with children moving from the first stage to the second stage at around the age of eleven or twelve. The third stage is “further education at university or college. However, there is a lot of which distinguishes education in Britain from the way it work in other countries. In the framework of this assignment, we look into the characteristics of the British education and comparison to ones in Viet Nam.
2.1. British education system.
2.1.1. Organization and comparison to Vietnam.
Nowadays, the more the society develops the more important role education play. If you want to know how strong one country is, you must have to study about its education system. Each country has a different education system which is suitable for its culture, customs and so on. With differences between cultures; custom, tradition and economic Vietnam and Britain also have many differences between educations. And the first point we think to consider is the organization of educational system.
2.1.1.1. British educational organization.
If you want to have a short expression about British education, we would like to give you “little central control or uniformity”. This characteristic is presented in some ranges below.
British education is managed not by one, but by three, separate government departments as the table below:
England and Wales
The Department for Education and Employment
Scotland
The Scottish Education Department
Northern Ireland
The Department of Education Northern Ireland
None of these central authorities exercises much control over the details of what actually happens in the country’s educational institutions. All they do is to ensure the availability of education, dictate an implement its overall organization and set overall learning objectives up to the end of compulsory education.
To be more specific, central government doesn’t prescribe a detailed program of learning or determine what books and materials should be used. It says, in broad terms, what school children should learn, but it only offers occasional advice about how they should learn it. This is expressed in the curriculum. According to a research on curriculums of British education, we find out that three areas of British have their own curriculums.
England and Wales
National Curriculum
Scotland
Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) for nursery, primary, secondary school
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland Curriculum
Of course, different curriculum means that students are taught different subjects. Just take a look at National Curriculum (Table 1) and Curriculum for Excellence.
Table 1: National curriculum
Subject
(age 5-7) (age 7-11)
(age 11-14)
(age 14-16)
English
Mathematics
Science
Information & Communication Technology
Physical Education
Geography
History
Music
Art & Design
Design & Technology
Modern Foreign Languages
Citizenship
Work-related Learning
Meanwhile, in Scotland, Curriculum for Excellence includes following subjects: expressive arts, health and wellbeing, languages, mathematics, religious and moral education, sciences, social studies and technologies. These subjects aim to provide the knowledge, skills and attributes which equip young people for learning, life and work.
Also, central government doesn’t dictates the exact hours of the school day, the exact dates of holidays (8 days in England and Wales, 10 days in Northern Ireland, 9 days in Scotland) or the exact age at which a child must start in full-time education. It doesn’t manage an institution’s finances either but it just decides how much money to give it. It does not itself set or supervise the marking of the exams which older teenagers do. In general, as many details as possible are left up to the individual institution or the Local education Authority.
One of the reasons for this level of ‘grass-roots’ independence is that the system has been influenced by the public-school tradition that a school is its own community. Most schools develop, to some degree at least, a sense of distinctiveness.
2.1.1.2. Comparison to Vietnamese educational organization.
On the contrary, we can use the word “uniformity” to describe the education system of Vietnam. We can see this feature clearly when considering some points below.
Firstly, as you know, in Vietnam, The Ministry of Education and Training is the agency that is responsible for education over the country.
Secondly, the agency presses its control over all issues happening in the country’s education. The evidence for this is that the agency that is responsible for Vietnam education designs a common curriculum from primary to secondary school called “National Curriculum of Basic Education” (Table 2). The adoption of the national curriculum in the formal school system entails a unified curriculum for all kinds of schools in the provinces in the whole country. This unification is expressed in the educational objectives and standards for each subject and level. However, the provinces can base its implementation on the specific circumstances and conditions of different kinds of individuals.
Table 2: National Curriculum of Basic Education
Subject
(age 6-11)
(age 11-15)
(age 15-18)
Vietnamese
Mathematics
Science
Information & Communication Technology
Physical Education
Geography
History
Music
Art
English
Citizenship
Natural and Society Science
Chemistry
Biology
Physical
Another point is that, compared with Britain, Vietnam dictates hours of the school day. In particular, a school day is often divided into two shifts. The first shift begins at 7a.m and finishes at 11.30 am. The second shift normally begins at 1.30 pm and finishes at 5.30 pm.
The New Labor Law shows clearly that the total days for official holidays in Vietnam are 10 days: New Year (1 day, the 1st of January), Independent day (1 day, the 2nd of September), May Day (1 day, the 1st of May), Lunar New Year (5 days), Dien Bien Phu Victory (1 day, the 30th of April), King Hung’s Death Anniversary (1 day, 10th of March). This regulation is applied over the whole country.
Unlike in Britain, the agency for Education in Vietnam cares much and releases clear regulations for some financial problems. For example, defined fee for primary school is about 500,000VND/year, secondary school is approximately 800,000VND/year (for children from the age of 12 to 15) and is about 1000,000VND (for children from the age of 16 to 18). Besides, there are suitable policies of fee for children who are in mountainous areas and hard family circumstances.
2.1.2. Education levels.
In general, education system of Britain has been categorized into: Compulsory education including primary schools (5-11 years olds), secondary schools (5-16 years olds) and education beyond sixteen (further and higher education).
2.1.2.1. Compulsory education.
There is no countrywide system of nursery (i.e. pre-primary) schools. In some areas primary schools have nursery school attached to them, but in others there is no provision of this kind. Many children do not begin full-time attendance at school until they are about five and start primary school. Almost all schools are either primary or secondary only, the latter being generally larger.
Primary schools: In the UK, primary education is given to a child at the age of 5 and it continues until 11. The first key stage is for infants and the other is for juniors.
Secondary schools provide compulsory education for children between the ages of eleven and sixteen in England and Wales. Children may stay on at school until the age of eighteen in order to pursue further studies, however this is not compulsory.
From the ages of fourteen to sixteen, pupils study for the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE).
Key Stage
School Year
Age
Types of Schools *
Reception
5 Infant School
5-7
Primary
Schools
5-11 First Schools
5-8
1
Year 1
5-6
Year 2
6-7
2
Year 3
7-8
Junior Schools
7-11
Year 4
8-9
Middle Schools
8-12
or
9-13
Year 5
9-10
Year 6
10-11
3
Year 7
11-12
Grammar Schools or Comprehensive
Schools
Secondary
Schools
Year 8
12-13
Junior High Schools
12-16
2.1.2.2. Education beyond sixteen.
About one third of British students leave school as soon as possible after turning 16, usually taking lower-level jobs in the workforce. Those who stay in school past the age of 16 may pursue either further education or higher education.
Further Education: Further education is largely vocational, as is adult education. About 3.5 million people were enrolled in further education programs in 1995.
After secondary education, students have the option of acquiring qualifications such as A-Level and GNVQ. If you are planning to go in for higher studies then it is mandatory that you complete this level first. The most common one is Advanced Level (General Certificate of Education in Advanced Level Certificates) which is considered an entry level for getting admission into a university for higher studies. Here, students study three to four subjects based on their interests and can choose from Business, Science, Arts and Humanities. There is no right of entry to university for anybody, even those with top-grades in several A-levels.
Higher Education: After completion of further studies in the UK, you can opt for higher studies. As an international student, applying to the universities is a time consuming process. You have to visit the University and College Admissions Service (UCAS), which is an agency of the Central Government that manages the application procedure of every university. Various universities offer programs for study and job opportunities. Also, foreign students need to write the International English Language Testing System (IELTS), if their first language is in English.
The percentage of young people entering universities in Britain is far lower than in the United States, where more than half attend. In Britain the proportion has risen from one in six in 1989 to almost one in three in 1996. In 1995 there were 1.7 million students enrolled in higher education.
Many educational opportunities for people at this age or older: Sixth-form College, College, Further education, or vocational training course. In England and Wales, pupils are more specialized in conventional academic subjects than other countries.
Besides, there are other Education Programs in the UK like Postgraduate Degree and Ph.D. Programs.
Postgraduate Degree: In the UK, the postgraduate program can be completely research based or with a combination of theoretical classes. It prepares students to specialize in a particular field or even, go in-depth into a subject by means of a Doctorate program. For pursuing post-graduation, it is important to have a Bachelor's degree.
Ph.D. Programs: During the course of this program, students undertake an original research project with the help of a supervisor.
2.2. School life.
2.2.1. School year.
The school year is divided into 3 terms, three months each, separated by vacations and named after seasons: autumn term, winter term and spring term. The autumn term starts on the first Tuesday morning in September. In July schools break up for eight weeks.
The summer vacation lasts for about 6 weeks from July 20 to September 4; winter (Christmas Holiday) and spring vacation (Easter Holiday) both last two weeks, from December 21 to around January 6 and March 25 to around April 5, respectively.
The new school year starts in September, at the end of summer vacation.
The three terms are:
Autumn Term: September to December
Spring Term: January to April
Summer Term: April to July
Each term lasts for approximately thirteen weeks and there is a week half term break in the middle of each term.
The local educational authority decides the dates of the school terms and the school governing bodies determine the times at which schools open and close each day.
2.2.2. School day.
All schools in England are free to decide when their school day should start and end. There are no specific legal requirements about how long the school day should be. Governing bodies of all maintained schools in England are responsible for deciding when sessions should begin and end on each school day. Governing bodies are also responsible for deciding the length of each lesson and the timings for the morning session, the midday break, and the afternoon session. Academy and Free School funding agreements state that the duration of the school day is the responsibility of the academy trust.
Nearly all schools work a five-day week, with no half-day, and are closed on Saturdays. The day starts at or just before nine o’clock and finishes between three or four, or a bit later for older children.
The lunch break usually lasts about an hour-and-a-quarter. Nearly two-thirds of pupils have lunch provided by the school. Parents pay for this, except for 15% who are rated poor enough for it to be free. Other children either go home for lunch or take activities.
2.2.3. Public exam.
The organization of the exams which school children take from the age of about fifteen onwards exemplifies both the lack of uniformity in British education and also the traditional “hands-off” approach of British governments.
First, these exams are not set by the government but by independent examining boards. Everywhere except Scotland, each school or LED decides which board’s exams its pupils take.
Second, the boards publish a separate syllabus for each subject. Nearly all pupils do exam in English and French.
Third, the exams have nothing to do with school years as such. They are divorced from the school system. In practice, the vast majority of people who do these exams are school pupils but formally it is individual people who enter these exams, not pupils in a particular year of school.
2.2.4. Teaching method.
Methods of teaching vary, but there is most commonly a balance between formal lessons with the teacher at the front of the classroom, and activities in which children work in small groups round a table with the teacher supervising.
Each group of 30 pupils is the responsibility of a form tutor. Each school day is divided into periods of 40-50 minutes, time for various lessons with 10-20 minutes breaks between them.
In primary schools, the children are mostly taught by a class teacher who teaches all the subjects. At the ages of seven and eleven, children have to take national tests in English, mathematics and science. In secondary schools, pupils have different teachers for different subjects and are given regular homework.
2.2.5. Life at school.
a. Uniform
Pupils at many secondary schools Britain have to wear a school uniform. This usually means a white blouse for girls (perhaps with a tie), with a dark-colored skirt and pullover. Boys wear a shirt and tie, dark trousers and dark-colored pullovers. Pupils also wear blazers-a kind of jacket-with the school badge on the pocket. They often have to wear some kind of hat on the way to and from school-caps for boys and berets or some other kind of hat for girls shoes are usually black or brown. And no high heels!
Young people in Britain often don’t like their school uniform, especially the hats and shoes. Sometimes they do not wear the right clothes. Schools will often give them a warning the first time that this happens but then will punish them if they continue not to wear the correct uniform. Senior student don’t have to wear their school uniform.
b. Discipline
Corporal punishment has recently been banned in state schools. But in most public schools it is still allowed. Caning is the usual punishment for serious misbehavior in class, damage and vandalism. Many teachers remark that standards of discipline have fallen since corporal punishment was banned by the government.
You may want to know whether there are any rewards and prizes for the best pupils. Of course, there are. Each school has its system of rewards: medals and prizes.
c. Activities
Schools in Britain have many other activities for pupils to do during the break times and after school.
The amount of time devoted to break times differs from school to school, but at many schools there are two breaks, lasting about 20 minutes each, for key stage 1 children, and one 20 minute break for key stage two children. The children also have an hour long lunch break. During break times and lunch times the children go out and play in the playground.
Kids play on an adventure playground or form teams to play soccer and basket ball. On rainy days and at other times when they can't go outside, children spend the time chatting with their friends, play board games or reading and drawing in the classroom.
After school, pupils can attend the Student Associations that suit them. There are clubs for industry professionals (such as Finance, Auditing, Economics, Chemistry, Information Technology), culture (the national student union and territories), or for entertainment (Photography image, table tennis, chess). Besides, there are many extracurricular classes (yoga, Latin dance).
Also, school also have their own events during the school year such as: sport day, excursions, school festival…
2.2.6. Comparison between Britain and Vietnam
*Similarities.
Education system: pre-schools, primary school, secondary school, university and college.
Primary pupils have lunch provided by schools and have lunch break last long.
The school also helps the poor pupils.
Teaching methods: formal lessons with teachers at the front of classroom
In primary schools, 1 class teacher teaches all subjects while in secondary schools, pupils have different teachers for different subjects and are given regular homework.
Secondary pupils have to wear uniform when going to school.
*Differences
British Education
Vietnamese Education
Education system
No countrywide system of nursery (pre-primary schools)
Primary school (5-11 y.o) and secondary school (11-16 y.o.)
Official system of nursery
(divided into public and private schools)
Primary school (6-10 y.o.), secondary school (11-14 y.o.) and high school (15-17 y.o.)
The school year
Divided into 3 terms: Autumn term, Spring term, Summer term
Divided into 2 semester: semester 1 and semester 2
The school day
All schools work a 5-day week (closed on Sat and Sun), no half-day.
The day starts at 9am and finishes between 3 and 4pm.
The school day begins at 9 o'clock with a 15-minute Assembly with pupils and staff present. It usually consists of a religious part (prayer, hymn) followed by the Headmaster`s announcements for the day. State schools must provide religious education. The syllabuses must reflect Christianity whilst taking account of other main religions practiced in Britain (Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Sikhism). However, parents have the right to withdraw their children from religious education classes and collective worship.
Only primary schools work 5-day week (closed on Sat and Sun)
Secondary and high schools work for 6-day week with half day.
The day starts either at 7 or 8 am and finishes at 11 or 12 am (morning) or starts at 1 or 2 pm and ended at 4 or 5pm (afternoon)
Moreover, there are many short breaks about 5 minutes after every class.
Basically, 82% of Vietnam's population does not follow a particular religion. They only worship ancestors. Therefore, all activities of religious beliefs in school are rarely happened, largely ceremonies of the Country Holidays are hold in School in Vietnam
Holiday
3 big holidays:
- Christmas holiday (about 2 weeks)
- Easter holiday (about 2 weeks)
- Summer holiday (about 6 weeks)
2 big holidays:
- Lunar new year holiday (about 2 weeks)
- Summer holiday (about 6 weeks – 8 weeks)
Teaching method
Beside formal lesson with teacher, pupils work in small groups with the teacher supervising. They can also form groups with “mixed ability”
The most common method is “reading-writing” among teachers and pupils. Not many group activities.
Exam
At the age of 7 and 11, children have to take national tests in English, Math and science.
Vietnamese students have to pass the final exam at the end of every school year. If they failed, they have to stay in this class level one more year.
Pupils only have to take school tests. Some good or excellent pupils of each school join in national test.
Outdoor activities
So many outdoor activities. Pupils are taken to the historical places, parks and museums, etc. to learn and play.
There are hundreds of Student Associations. There are clubs for industry professionals (such as Finance, Auditing, Economics, Chemistry, Information Technology), culture (the national student union and territories), or for entertainment (Photography image, table tennis, chess). Besides, there are many extracurricular classes (yoga, Latin dance).
Not many outdoor activities. Pupils mostly learn in the classrooms.
2.3. Style and comparison to Viet Nam
2.3.1. Educational style in Britain:
Education plays an important role in development of any country. A good education system is the basic foundation for development of a better society. For a long time, education system in Britain has continuously innovated and developed. However, there is something that someway became unchanged.
First of all, learning is for its own sake rather than for any particular practical purpose. In comparison with most other countries, a relatively strong emphasis has been put on the quality of person that education produces as opposed to the qualities of abilities that is produces. Public debate about educational policy still focuses on social justice rather than on efficiency. This approach has had a far-reaching effect on many aspect of the educational system, particularly the general style of teaching and studying. This is why British young people do not appear to have to work as hard as their counterparts in other European countries. Primary schoolchildren do not have much formal homework to do and university students have fewer hours of programmed attendance.
Moreover, British educational system emphasizes on academic learning rather than practical learning. This has resulted in high-quality education for the intelligent and academically inclined with comparatively little attention given to the educational needs of the rest. The British school system also got a national curriculum (a national specification of learning objectives) so much later than other European countries.
In addition, schools and universities have tends to give such a high priority to sport. Sporting success enhances the reputation of an institution. Until the last quarter of twentieth century, certain sports at some universities and medical schools were played to an international standard. People with poor academic records were sometimes accepted as students because of their sporting prowess.
In Europe, British education is compulsory for the most years and the school year is the longest. The number of hours in the school week is no less than the average for Europe. However, it seems that the British are comparatively unenthusiastic about education when it is not something that they have to do.
2.3.2. Compare with Vietnam:
*Similarities:
Stronger emphasis on academic learning and understanding than factual knowledge and learning to apply knowledge to specific tasks.
Learning for its own sake: people don’t usually gain qualifications within universities. They need extra training before starting any profession.
People believe that higher education is very prestigious, a tradition that dates back to the competitive examination system to become an official in the pre-colonial period. Many families want their children to attend university, but such an option is beyond reach for the majority of the population, particularly those in rural or highland areas.
*Differences:
For the purpose of comparing the difference between educational styles in Britain and Vietnam, it is useful to consider the teaching and learning styles, workload and the class size.
Britain
Vietnam
Teaching style
+ British education raise the sense of student’s initiative, they give students the right to express their own opinion without fear of punishment. Students are taught to think, not to remember what teachers say.
+ There are no exams for children in primary schools.
+ Students depend on their teacher’s thoughts and ideas. Sometimes, students feel scared of teacher or even they don’t dare to ask their teacher about the lessons.
+ Tests and exams are used very often to check learner’s understanding and ability.
Studying style
+ Students are allowed to make individual decisions about the lessons. Schools consider student as the central objects and teacher is the person who help students to promote their ability.
+ Education in Britain focuses on developing the ability to work independently and creative abilities of each individual student.
+ Learners can freely exchange ideas.
+ Students passively learn available things and do not try to know more. Listening in silence and learning by heart are very popular.
+ There is little interaction among students in a class because.
Workload
+ The homework and the lesson in each subject are greatly lower than workload in Vietnam.
+ Students are divided into the program that they hope to study.
+ Studying time in school and at home are longer and more homework are indispensable.
+ All subjects in the national curriculum are compulsory.
Class size
+ There are only 15-20 students in each class.
+ Teachers have more chances to communicate with students and concentrate on each student.
+ The number of students per class up to 45 students or even more.
+ Teachers don’t have many opportunities to take care of individual students.
III. Conclusion.
In short, the British education basically differentiates comparatively from Viet Nam’s education beside several similarities when considering three main aspects including education system, school life and style. We expect that this assignment will equip the readers with necessary knowledge about both countries’ education. Moreover, we also build up the expectation to figure out a couple of solutions for Viet Nam’s education.
Q&A
1. What are the advantages and disadvantages of not having central control in education in the UK? What about Vietnam?
*Advantages of not having central control in education in UK
We think the biggest advantage of having little central control in education in UK is that it helps to reduce the bulk in administration. From this, education of UK can enjoy smaller benefits below.
-Better communication
It is likely to improve communication and efficiency in the educational departments and offices because having little central control means that there are fewer levels of authority. As a result, the problems of red-tape and bureaucratic delays are reduced.
-Increased decision making power
Having little uniformity permits prompt and more accurate decisions because decisions are made by those who are fully aware of the realities of the situation. Decisions can be made near the point of action without consulting higher levels and without waiting for approval of top leaders.
-Flexibility
We all know that UK has three areas with many significant differences in various fields, including education. If there is a central control in education over the whole UK, when wanting to change something in education of England, for example, all the rest will be affected (may be in negative way). So having little central control, Necessary changes can be made without dislocating the entire structure, or, we say, flexibility is strengthened
*Advantages of having central control in education of VN
-Focused Vision
Vision is the key of effective control and having a more centralized structure helps all levels of organizations in general and organizations of education in particular, focusing on one vision or purpose. Central government department can establish and communicate its vision or strategy to lower-departments and keep all levels moving in the same direction. This prevents potential inconsistency in vision.
-Reduced Conflict
When only one person or a small group at the top makes important decisions, organizations of education experience less conflict and dissent among lower level, middle-level and top level. If many levels in the organization get involved in decisions, more potential exists for conflict and difference in implementation. With top managers taking the responsibility of making and implementing important decisions, they insulate other management levels and leaders from the burden of making risky or unfavorable decisions. This is especially important to lower level manager-employee relationships.
*Disadvantages of not having central control in education in UK
-It may lead to the problem of co-ordination at the level of Departments as the decision-making authority is not concentrated.
- It may lead to inconsistencies (i.e. absence of uniformity) at the organization level. For example, according to a research on curriculums of British education, we find out that three areas of British have their own curriculums.
- It may be effect to the quality of education of each department. To the extent education finance is decentralized differences in fiscal capacity at the local level may generate increased disparities in spending and educational outcomes. To the extent decentralization reduces the power of central education ministries, centrally-run information systems that feed education policy decisions may collapse. It also leads to confusion over education management causing conflict decisions or failure to carry out functions which adverse effects on quality and efficiency.
2. What are the problems in the education system in the UK and Vietnam?
* In the UK
- A third of British students leave school at the age of 16, usually take lower-level jobs in the workforce, which is too soon for them as their physical development has yet to be done.
- There is little central control or uniformity, which cause the difference, inequality among each nation.
- There are few incentive programs for non-local students who cannot afford to live away from home.
- Because of the relatively high degree of personal supervision of students which the low ratio of students to staff allows, nearly all universities students complete their studies in a very short time (3 years) while in Scotland, 4 years is the norm for most subjects.
* In Vietnam
- There are 3 ‘diseases’ in Vietnamese education system called “chasing for achievement’, ‘cheating’, ‘covering’
+ Chasing for achievement: All the schools only consider the achievements, awards, popularity for their schools and easily give students compliments, high marks, awards which don’t match their real capability.
+ Cheating: Students cheat in the exam, buy qualifications, bribe the seniors/teachers to pass the exam, to get high marks, etc.
+ Covering: So many private schools emerge, in every location, which cause the problem in management and teacher recruitment; All the schools try to apply new teaching-studying method even though they lack conditions and standards to implement; Many people pursue higher education to get Doctor degree, Master degree just for “trend”.
- The curriculum, lessons in Vietnam just focus on ‘theory’, lack of ‘practice’, which lower the capability of thinking and imagination of students. Students don’t really know what to do after graduating from universities and colleges, most of them have to study again when starting to work at some companies.
- There are too many subjects students have to study during the compulsory education that prevents students from spending time on learning and developing what they are good at. Students may feel hard to choose what they really want to do after graduation.
3. What is the role of nursery schools in the UK and VN? Any differences?
Nursery school can be called pre-school, playschool, playgroup and nursery. Nursery in England is also called FS1 which is the first year of foundation before they go into primary or infants. They rarely used the word ‘kindergarten’ while this word is used widely to define the pre-school education in Viet Nam.
The role of nursery schools in both the UK and Vietnam are similar:
- The place to keep and take care of the children while their parents are busy working.
- Nursery schools gather all the children from nearly-same ages together, build a very soon environment/ society of human for children to adapt.
- Help each and every child achieve their full potential
- Enhance children's physical, intellectual, emotional and social development.
- Caregivers and teacher at schools have wide knowledge and sufficient skills to help children develop their individual languages and personalities. They help the shy children easily fit in and the very talkative ones know how to listen to others.
- Help children access to various activities throughout the day, including outdoor activities, and play with picture books, paints and other art materials. They can also work and play in groups.
- Provide children five sessions per week of two and a half hours each with the curriculum aiming to develop:
+ Successful Learners
+ Confident Individuals
+ Responsible Citizens
+ Effective Contributors
*The differences of nursery schools in 2 nations:
The UK
Vietnam
Children have the option of attending nursery at the ages of three or four years, before compulsory education begins
The nursery education in Vie Nam is not compulsory but is being developed countrywide
Pre-school education can be provided by childcare centers, playgroups, nursery schools and nursery classes within primary schools.
Nursery schools are divided into 2 levels: for children under 4 (pre-schools) and over 4 years old (kindergartens). They are also separated from primary schools.
Children access to high-quality education and to a good nutrition
In many rural and mountainous areas of Vietnam, children can’t access to good education condition and nutrition
Strict in recruiting qualified and experienced teachers/caregivers
Many under-qualified teachers/caregivers which cause some bad scandals
Pre-school education in nursery classes or schools is fully funded by local government for children aged over three.
In Vietnam, pre-school education isn’t funded by the government. Parents have to pay for this.
Children start going to the pre-schools at the age of 3
In some private pre-schools, they take care of the children from 4-month-old since the parents cannot have time to take care their own children
4. What do you think about the focus on developing personal qualities in the UK? Is it effective to all students? What are the reasons?
One of British education’s characteristics we mentioned is "learning for its own sake". This approach indicates that the aim of learning is for knowledge it brings but for vocational goal or other reasons. For example, if you are studying law, study it because the law is at the core of what a civilized society is, not because you will become a lawyer. Similarly, studying economics because economics sheds light on how humanity struggles and has always struggled to come to terms with its scarce resources doesn’t make you a businessman. A strong emphasis, therefore, is put on the quality of person that education produces.
Education that way can help people create ground knowledge and moral value that enrich their life in many ways. This is a good idea in terms of social justice as we can build a better society with people who have good behaviors and comprehensive knowledge in many fields. However, it isn’t always effective. Sometimes, students are practical. They just want to learn things that are useful for them and they can apply what they learn into their future jobs. So, do understanding derivative and integral even help you become a writer?
ASSESSMENT
No.
Name
Assessment
1.
Hoang Trung Duc
11%
2.
Pham Hoang Duc
9%
3.
Nguyen Bang Giang
11%
4.
Duong Thi Giang
11%
5.
Tran My Dung
9%
6.
Tran Thi Dung
9%
7.
Ho Lam Giang
11%
8.
Do Huong Giang
11%
9.
Nguyen Hong Dung
9%
10.
To Thi Dung
9%
TEACHER’S OPINIONS
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TOPIC: EDUCATION
EDUCATION IN BRITAIN
OUTLINE
I. Introduction.
II. Content.
2.1. British education system.
2.1.1. Organization and comparison to Vietnam.
2.1.1.1. British educational organization.
2.1.1.2. Comparison to Vietnamese educational organization.
2.1.2. Education levels and comparison to Viet Nam.
2.1.2.1. Compulsory education.
2.1.2.2. Education beyond sixteen.
2.1.2.3. Comparison to Viet Nam’s education levels.
2.2. School life.
2.2.1. School year.
2.2.2. School day.
2.2.3. Public exam.
2.2.4. Teaching method.
2.2.5. Life at school.
2.2.6. Comparison to school life in Viet Nam.
2.3. Style and comparison to Viet Nam.
2.3.1 Educational style.
2.3.2 Comparison to Viet Nam’s style.
III. Conclusion.
I. Introduction.
The basic features of the British educational system are the same as they are everywhere else in Europe: full-time education is compulsory up to the middle teenage years; the academic year begins at the end of summer; compulsory education is free of charge, but parents may spend money on educating their children privately if they want to. There are three recognized stages, with children moving from the first stage to the second stage at around the age of eleven or twelve. The third stage is “further education at university or college. However, there is a lot of which distinguishes education in Britain from the way it work in other countries. In the framework of this assignment, we look into the characteristics of the British education and comparison to ones in Viet Nam.
II. Content.
The basic features of the British educational system are the same as they are everywhere else in Europe: full-time education is compulsory up to the middle teenage years; the academic year begins at the end of summer; compulsory education is free of charge, but parents may spend money on educating their children privately if they want to. There are three recognized stages, with children moving from the first stage to the second stage at around the age of eleven or twelve. The third stage is “further education at university or college. However, there is a lot of which distinguishes education in Britain from the way it work in other countries. In the framework of this assignment, we look into the characteristics of the British education and comparison to ones in Viet Nam.
2.1. British education system.
2.1.1. Organization and comparison to Vietnam.
Nowadays, the more the society develops the more important role education play. If you want to know how strong one country is, you must have to study about its education system. Each country has a different education system which is suitable for its culture, customs and so on. With differences between cultures; custom, tradition and economic Vietnam and Britain also have many differences between educations. And the first point we think to consider is the organization of educational system.
2.1.1.1. British educational organization.
If you want to have a short expression about British education, we would like to give you “little central control or uniformity”. This characteristic is presented in some ranges below.
British education is managed not by one, but by three, separate government departments as the table below:
England and Wales
The Department for Education and Employment
Scotland
The Scottish Education Department
Northern Ireland
The Department of Education Northern Ireland
None of these central authorities exercises much control over the details of what actually happens in the country’s educational institutions. All they do is to ensure the availability of education, dictate an implement its overall organization and set overall learning objectives up to the end of compulsory education.
To be more specific, central government doesn’t prescribe a detailed program of learning or determine what books and materials should be used. It says, in broad terms, what school children should learn, but it only offers occasional advice about how they should learn it. This is expressed in the curriculum. According to a research on curriculums of British education, we find out that three areas of British have their own curriculums.
England and Wales
National Curriculum
Scotland
Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) for nursery, primary, secondary school
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland Curriculum
Of course, different curriculum means that students are taught different subjects. Just take a look at National Curriculum (Table 1) and Curriculum for Excellence.
Table 1: National curriculum
Subject
(age 5-7) (age 7-11)
(age 11-14)
(age 14-16)
English
Mathematics
Science
Information & Communication Technology
Physical Education
Geography
History
Music
Art & Design
Design & Technology
Modern Foreign Languages
Citizenship
Work-related Learning
Meanwhile, in Scotland, Curriculum for Excellence includes following subjects: expressive arts, health and wellbeing, languages, mathematics, religious and moral education, sciences, social studies and technologies. These subjects aim to provide the knowledge, skills and attributes which equip young people for learning, life and work.
Also, central government doesn’t dictates the exact hours of the school day, the exact dates of holidays (8 days in England and Wales, 10 days in Northern Ireland, 9 days in Scotland) or the exact age at which a child must start in full-time education. It doesn’t manage an institution’s finances either but it just decides how much money to give it. It does not itself set or supervise the marking of the exams which older teenagers do. In general, as many details as possible are left up to the individual institution or the Local education Authority.
One of the reasons for this level of ‘grass-roots’ independence is that the system has been influenced by the public-school tradition that a school is its own community. Most schools develop, to some degree at least, a sense of distinctiveness.
2.1.1.2. Comparison to Vietnamese educational organization.
On the contrary, we can use the word “uniformity” to describe the education system of Vietnam. We can see this feature clearly when considering some points below.
Firstly, as you know, in Vietnam, The Ministry of Education and Training is the agency that is responsible for education over the country.
Secondly, the agency presses its control over all issues happening in the country’s education. The evidence for this is that the agency that is responsible for Vietnam education designs a common curriculum from primary to secondary school called “National Curriculum of Basic Education” (Table 2). The adoption of the national curriculum in the formal school system entails a unified curriculum for all kinds of schools in the provinces in the whole country. This unification is expressed in the educational objectives and standards for each subject and level. However, the provinces can base its implementation on the specific circumstances and conditions of different kinds of individuals.
Table 2: National Curriculum of Basic Education
Subject
(age 6-11)
(age 11-15)
(age 15-18)
Vietnamese
Mathematics
Science
Information & Communication Technology
Physical Education
Geography
History
Music
Art
English
Citizenship
Natural and Society Science
Chemistry
Biology
Physical
Another point is that, compared with Britain, Vietnam dictates hours of the school day. In particular, a school day is often divided into two shifts. The first shift begins at 7a.m and finishes at 11.30 am. The second shift normally begins at 1.30 pm and finishes at 5.30 pm.
The New Labor Law shows clearly that the total days for official holidays in Vietnam are 10 days: New Year (1 day, the 1st of January), Independent day (1 day, the 2nd of September), May Day (1 day, the 1st of May), Lunar New Year (5 days), Dien Bien Phu Victory (1 day, the 30th of April), King Hung’s Death Anniversary (1 day, 10th of March). This regulation is applied over the whole country.
Unlike in Britain, the agency for Education in Vietnam cares much and releases clear regulations for some financial problems. For example, defined fee for primary school is about 500,000VND/year, secondary school is approximately 800,000VND/year (for children from the age of 12 to 15) and is about 1000,000VND (for children from the age of 16 to 18). Besides, there are suitable policies of fee for children who are in mountainous areas and hard family circumstances.
2.1.2. Education levels.
In general, education system of Britain has been categorized into: Compulsory education including primary schools (5-11 years olds), secondary schools (5-16 years olds) and education beyond sixteen (further and higher education).
2.1.2.1. Compulsory education.
There is no countrywide system of nursery (i.e. pre-primary) schools. In some areas primary schools have nursery school attached to them, but in others there is no provision of this kind. Many children do not begin full-time attendance at school until they are about five and start primary school. Almost all schools are either primary or secondary only, the latter being generally larger.
Primary schools: In the UK, primary education is given to a child at the age of 5 and it continues until 11. The first key stage is for infants and the other is for juniors.
Secondary schools provide compulsory education for children between the ages of eleven and sixteen in England and Wales. Children may stay on at school until the age of eighteen in order to pursue further studies, however this is not compulsory.
From the ages of fourteen to sixteen, pupils study for the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE).
Key Stage
School Year
Age
Types of Schools *
Reception
5 Infant School
5-7
Primary
Schools
5-11 First Schools
5-8
1
Year 1
5-6
Year 2
6-7
2
Year 3
7-8
Junior Schools
7-11
Year 4
8-9
Middle Schools
8-12
or
9-13
Year 5
9-10
Year 6
10-11
3
Year 7
11-12
Grammar Schools or Comprehensive
Schools
Secondary
Schools
Year 8
12-13
Junior High Schools
12-16
2.1.2.2. Education beyond sixteen.
About one third of British students leave school as soon as possible after turning 16, usually taking lower-level jobs in the workforce. Those who stay in school past the age of 16 may pursue either further education or higher education.
Further Education: Further education is largely vocational, as is adult education. About 3.5 million people were enrolled in further education programs in 1995.
After secondary education, students have the option of acquiring qualifications such as A-Level and GNVQ. If you are planning to go in for higher studies then it is mandatory that you complete this level first. The most common one is Advanced Level (General Certificate of Education in Advanced Level Certificates) which is considered an entry level for getting admission into a university for higher studies. Here, students study three to four subjects based on their interests and can choose from Business, Science, Arts and Humanities. There is no right of entry to university for anybody, even those with top-grades in several A-levels.
Higher Education: After completion of further studies in the UK, you can opt for higher studies. As an international student, applying to the universities is a time consuming process. You have to visit the University and College Admissions Service (UCAS), which is an agency of the Central Government that manages the application procedure of every university. Various universities offer programs for study and job opportunities. Also, foreign students need to write the International English Language Testing System (IELTS), if their first language is in English.
The percentage of young people entering universities in Britain is far lower than in the United States, where more than half attend. In Britain the proportion has risen from one in six in 1989 to almost one in three in 1996. In 1995 there were 1.7 million students enrolled in higher education.
Many educational opportunities for people at this age or older: Sixth-form College, College, Further education, or vocational training course. In England and Wales, pupils are more specialized in conventional academic subjects than other countries.
Besides, there are other Education Programs in the UK like Postgraduate Degree and Ph.D. Programs.
Postgraduate Degree: In the UK, the postgraduate program can be completely research based or with a combination of theoretical classes. It prepares students to specialize in a particular field or even, go in-depth into a subject by means of a Doctorate program. For pursuing post-graduation, it is important to have a Bachelor's degree.
Ph.D. Programs: During the course of this program, students undertake an original research project with the help of a supervisor.
2.2. School life.
2.2.1. School year.
The school year is divided into 3 terms, three months each, separated by vacations and named after seasons: autumn term, winter term and spring term. The autumn term starts on the first Tuesday morning in September. In July schools break up for eight weeks.
The summer vacation lasts for about 6 weeks from July 20 to September 4; winter (Christmas Holiday) and spring vacation (Easter Holiday) both last two weeks, from December 21 to around January 6 and March 25 to around April 5, respectively.
The new school year starts in September, at the end of summer vacation.
The three terms are:
Autumn Term: September to December
Spring Term: January to April
Summer Term: April to July
Each term lasts for approximately thirteen weeks and there is a week half term break in the middle of each term.
The local educational authority decides the dates of the school terms and the school governing bodies determine the times at which schools open and close each day.
2.2.2. School day.
All schools in England are free to decide when their school day should start and end. There are no specific legal requirements about how long the school day should be. Governing bodies of all maintained schools in England are responsible for deciding when sessions should begin and end on each school day. Governing bodies are also responsible for deciding the length of each lesson and the timings for the morning session, the midday break, and the afternoon session. Academy and Free School funding agreements state that the duration of the school day is the responsibility of the academy trust.
Nearly all schools work a five-day week, with no half-day, and are closed on Saturdays. The day starts at or just before nine o’clock and finishes between three or four, or a bit later for older children.
The lunch break usually lasts about an hour-and-a-quarter. Nearly two-thirds of pupils have lunch provided by the school. Parents pay for this, except for 15% who are rated poor enough for it to be free. Other children either go home for lunch or take activities.
2.2.3. Public exam.
The organization of the exams which school children take from the age of about fifteen onwards exemplifies both the lack of uniformity in British education and also the traditional “hands-off” approach of British governments.
First, these exams are not set by the government but by independent examining boards. Everywhere except Scotland, each school or LED decides which board’s exams its pupils take.
Second, the boards publish a separate syllabus for each subject. Nearly all pupils do exam in English and French.
Third, the exams have nothing to do with school years as such. They are divorced from the school system. In practice, the vast majority of people who do these exams are school pupils but formally it is individual people who enter these exams, not pupils in a particular year of school.
2.2.4. Teaching method.
Methods of teaching vary, but there is most commonly a balance between formal lessons with the teacher at the front of the classroom, and activities in which children work in small groups round a table with the teacher supervising.
Each group of 30 pupils is the responsibility of a form tutor. Each school day is divided into periods of 40-50 minutes, time for various lessons with 10-20 minutes breaks between them.
In primary schools, the children are mostly taught by a class teacher who teaches all the subjects. At the ages of seven and eleven, children have to take national tests in English, mathematics and science. In secondary schools, pupils have different teachers for different subjects and are given regular homework.
2.2.5. Life at school.
a. Uniform
Pupils at many secondary schools Britain have to wear a school uniform. This usually means a white blouse for girls (perhaps with a tie), with a dark-colored skirt and pullover. Boys wear a shirt and tie, dark trousers and dark-colored pullovers. Pupils also wear blazers-a kind of jacket-with the school badge on the pocket. They often have to wear some kind of hat on the way to and from school-caps for boys and berets or some other kind of hat for girls shoes are usually black or brown. And no high heels!
Young people in Britain often don’t like their school uniform, especially the hats and shoes. Sometimes they do not wear the right clothes. Schools will often give them a warning the first time that this happens but then will punish them if they continue not to wear the correct uniform. Senior student don’t have to wear their school uniform.
b. Discipline
Corporal punishment has recently been banned in state schools. But in most public schools it is still allowed. Caning is the usual punishment for serious misbehavior in class, damage and vandalism. Many teachers remark that standards of discipline have fallen since corporal punishment was banned by the government.
You may want to know whether there are any rewards and prizes for the best pupils. Of course, there are. Each school has its system of rewards: medals and prizes.
c. Activities
Schools in Britain have many other activities for pupils to do during the break times and after school.
The amount of time devoted to break times differs from school to school, but at many schools there are two breaks, lasting about 20 minutes each, for key stage 1 children, and one 20 minute break for key stage two children. The children also have an hour long lunch break. During break times and lunch times the children go out and play in the playground.
Kids play on an adventure playground or form teams to play soccer and basket ball. On rainy days and at other times when they can't go outside, children spend the time chatting with their friends, play board games or reading and drawing in the classroom.
After school, pupils can attend the Student Associations that suit them. There are clubs for industry professionals (such as Finance, Auditing, Economics, Chemistry, Information Technology), culture (the national student union and territories), or for entertainment (Photography image, table tennis, chess). Besides, there are many extracurricular classes (yoga, Latin dance).
Also, school also have their own events during the school year such as: sport day, excursions, school festival…
2.2.6. Comparison between Britain and Vietnam
*Similarities.
Education system: pre-schools, primary school, secondary school, university and college.
Primary pupils have lunch provided by schools and have lunch break last long.
The school also helps the poor pupils.
Teaching methods: formal lessons with teachers at the front of classroom
In primary schools, 1 class teacher teaches all subjects while in secondary schools, pupils have different teachers for different subjects and are given regular homework.
Secondary pupils have to wear uniform when going to school.
*Differences
British Education
Vietnamese Education
Education system
No countrywide system of nursery (pre-primary schools)
Primary school (5-11 y.o) and secondary school (11-16 y.o.)
Official system of nursery
(divided into public and private schools)
Primary school (6-10 y.o.), secondary school (11-14 y.o.) and high school (15-17 y.o.)
The school year
Divided into 3 terms: Autumn term, Spring term, Summer term
Divided into 2 semester: semester 1 and semester 2
The school day
All schools work a 5-day week (closed on Sat and Sun), no half-day.
The day starts at 9am and finishes between 3 and 4pm.
The school day begins at 9 o'clock with a 15-minute Assembly with pupils and staff present. It usually consists of a religious part (prayer, hymn) followed by the Headmaster`s announcements for the day. State schools must provide religious education. The syllabuses must reflect Christianity whilst taking account of other main religions practiced in Britain (Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Sikhism). However, parents have the right to withdraw their children from religious education classes and collective worship.
Only primary schools work 5-day week (closed on Sat and Sun)
Secondary and high schools work for 6-day week with half day.
The day starts either at 7 or 8 am and finishes at 11 or 12 am (morning) or starts at 1 or 2 pm and ended at 4 or 5pm (afternoon)
Moreover, there are many short breaks about 5 minutes after every class.
Basically, 82% of Vietnam's population does not follow a particular religion. They only worship ancestors. Therefore, all activities of religious beliefs in school are rarely happened, largely ceremonies of the Country Holidays are hold in School in Vietnam
Holiday
3 big holidays:
- Christmas holiday (about 2 weeks)
- Easter holiday (about 2 weeks)
- Summer holiday (about 6 weeks)
2 big holidays:
- Lunar new year holiday (about 2 weeks)
- Summer holiday (about 6 weeks – 8 weeks)
Teaching method
Beside formal lesson with teacher, pupils work in small groups with the teacher supervising. They can also form groups with “mixed ability”
The most common method is “reading-writing” among teachers and pupils. Not many group activities.
Exam
At the age of 7 and 11, children have to take national tests in English, Math and science.
Vietnamese students have to pass the final exam at the end of every school year. If they failed, they have to stay in this class level one more year.
Pupils only have to take school tests. Some good or excellent pupils of each school join in national test.
Outdoor activities
So many outdoor activities. Pupils are taken to the historical places, parks and museums, etc. to learn and play.
There are hundreds of Student Associations. There are clubs for industry professionals (such as Finance, Auditing, Economics, Chemistry, Information Technology), culture (the national student union and territories), or for entertainment (Photography image, table tennis, chess). Besides, there are many extracurricular classes (yoga, Latin dance).
Not many outdoor activities. Pupils mostly learn in the classrooms.
2.3. Style and comparison to Viet Nam
2.3.1. Educational style in Britain:
Education plays an important role in development of any country. A good education system is the basic foundation for development of a better society. For a long time, education system in Britain has continuously innovated and developed. However, there is something that someway became unchanged.
First of all, learning is for its own sake rather than for any particular practical purpose. In comparison with most other countries, a relatively strong emphasis has been put on the quality of person that education produces as opposed to the qualities of abilities that is produces. Public debate about educational policy still focuses on social justice rather than on efficiency. This approach has had a far-reaching effect on many aspect of the educational system, particularly the general style of teaching and studying. This is why British young people do not appear to have to work as hard as their counterparts in other European countries. Primary schoolchildren do not have much formal homework to do and university students have fewer hours of programmed attendance.
Moreover, British educational system emphasizes on academic learning rather than practical learning. This has resulted in high-quality education for the intelligent and academically inclined with comparatively little attention given to the educational needs of the rest. The British school system also got a national curriculum (a national specification of learning objectives) so much later than other European countries.
In addition, schools and universities have tends to give such a high priority to sport. Sporting success enhances the reputation of an institution. Until the last quarter of twentieth century, certain sports at some universities and medical schools were played to an international standard. People with poor academic records were sometimes accepted as students because of their sporting prowess.
In Europe, British education is compulsory for the most years and the school year is the longest. The number of hours in the school week is no less than the average for Europe. However, it seems that the British are comparatively unenthusiastic about education when it is not something that they have to do.
2.3.2. Compare with Vietnam:
*Similarities:
Stronger emphasis on academic learning and understanding than factual knowledge and learning to apply knowledge to specific tasks.
Learning for its own sake: people don’t usually gain qualifications within universities. They need extra training before starting any profession.
People believe that higher education is very prestigious, a tradition that dates back to the competitive examination system to become an official in the pre-colonial period. Many families want their children to attend university, but such an option is beyond reach for the majority of the population, particularly those in rural or highland areas.
*Differences:
For the purpose of comparing the difference between educational styles in Britain and Vietnam, it is useful to consider the teaching and learning styles, workload and the class size.
Britain
Vietnam
Teaching style
+ British education raise the sense of student’s initiative, they give students the right to express their own opinion without fear of punishment. Students are taught to think, not to remember what teachers say.
+ There are no exams for children in primary schools.
+ Students depend on their teacher’s thoughts and ideas. Sometimes, students feel scared of teacher or even they don’t dare to ask their teacher about the lessons.
+ Tests and exams are used very often to check learner’s understanding and ability.
Studying style
+ Students are allowed to make individual decisions about the lessons. Schools consider student as the central objects and teacher is the person who help students to promote their ability.
+ Education in Britain focuses on developing the ability to work independently and creative abilities of each individual student.
+ Learners can freely exchange ideas.
+ Students passively learn available things and do not try to know more. Listening in silence and learning by heart are very popular.
+ There is little interaction among students in a class because.
Workload
+ The homework and the lesson in each subject are greatly lower than workload in Vietnam.
+ Students are divided into the program that they hope to study.
+ Studying time in school and at home are longer and more homework are indispensable.
+ All subjects in the national curriculum are compulsory.
Class size
+ There are only 15-20 students in each class.
+ Teachers have more chances to communicate with students and concentrate on each student.
+ The number of students per class up to 45 students or even more.
+ Teachers don’t have many opportunities to take care of individual students.
III. Conclusion.
In short, the British education basically differentiates comparatively from Viet Nam’s education beside several similarities when considering three main aspects including education system, school life and style. We expect that this assignment will equip the readers with necessary knowledge about both countries’ education. Moreover, we also build up the expectation to figure out a couple of solutions for Viet Nam’s education.
Q&A
1. What are the advantages and disadvantages of not having central control in education in the UK? What about Vietnam?
*Advantages of not having central control in education in UK
We think the biggest advantage of having little central control in education in UK is that it helps to reduce the bulk in administration. From this, education of UK can enjoy smaller benefits below.
-Better communication
It is likely to improve communication and efficiency in the educational departments and offices because having little central control means that there are fewer levels of authority. As a result, the problems of red-tape and bureaucratic delays are reduced.
-Increased decision making power
Having little uniformity permits prompt and more accurate decisions because decisions are made by those who are fully aware of the realities of the situation. Decisions can be made near the point of action without consulting higher levels and without waiting for approval of top leaders.
-Flexibility
We all know that UK has three areas with many significant differences in various fields, including education. If there is a central control in education over the whole UK, when wanting to change something in education of England, for example, all the rest will be affected (may be in negative way). So having little central control, Necessary changes can be made without dislocating the entire structure, or, we say, flexibility is strengthened
*Advantages of having central control in education of VN
-Focused Vision
Vision is the key of effective control and having a more centralized structure helps all levels of organizations in general and organizations of education in particular, focusing on one vision or purpose. Central government department can establish and communicate its vision or strategy to lower-departments and keep all levels moving in the same direction. This prevents potential inconsistency in vision.
-Reduced Conflict
When only one person or a small group at the top makes important decisions, organizations of education experience less conflict and dissent among lower level, middle-level and top level. If many levels in the organization get involved in decisions, more potential exists for conflict and difference in implementation. With top managers taking the responsibility of making and implementing important decisions, they insulate other management levels and leaders from the burden of making risky or unfavorable decisions. This is especially important to lower level manager-employee relationships.
*Disadvantages of not having central control in education in UK
-It may lead to the problem of co-ordination at the level of Departments as the decision-making authority is not concentrated.
- It may lead to inconsistencies (i.e. absence of uniformity) at the organization level. For example, according to a research on curriculums of British education, we find out that three areas of British have their own curriculums.
- It may be effect to the quality of education of each department. To the extent education finance is decentralized differences in fiscal capacity at the local level may generate increased disparities in spending and educational outcomes. To the extent decentralization reduces the power of central education ministries, centrally-run information systems that feed education policy decisions may collapse. It also leads to confusion over education management causing conflict decisions or failure to carry out functions which adverse effects on quality and efficiency.
2. What are the problems in the education system in the UK and Vietnam?
* In the UK
- A third of British students leave school at the age of 16, usually take lower-level jobs in the workforce, which is too soon for them as their physical development has yet to be done.
- There is little central control or uniformity, which cause the difference, inequality among each nation.
- There are few incentive programs for non-local students who cannot afford to live away from home.
- Because of the relatively high degree of personal supervision of students which the low ratio of students to staff allows, nearly all universities students complete their studies in a very short time (3 years) while in Scotland, 4 years is the norm for most subjects.
* In Vietnam
- There are 3 ‘diseases’ in Vietnamese education system called “chasing for achievement’, ‘cheating’, ‘covering’
+ Chasing for achievement: All the schools only consider the achievements, awards, popularity for their schools and easily give students compliments, high marks, awards which don’t match their real capability.
+ Cheating: Students cheat in the exam, buy qualifications, bribe the seniors/teachers to pass the exam, to get high marks, etc.
+ Covering: So many private schools emerge, in every location, which cause the problem in management and teacher recruitment; All the schools try to apply new teaching-studying method even though they lack conditions and standards to implement; Many people pursue higher education to get Doctor degree, Master degree just for “trend”.
- The curriculum, lessons in Vietnam just focus on ‘theory’, lack of ‘practice’, which lower the capability of thinking and imagination of students. Students don’t really know what to do after graduating from universities and colleges, most of them have to study again when starting to work at some companies.
- There are too many subjects students have to study during the compulsory education that prevents students from spending time on learning and developing what they are good at. Students may feel hard to choose what they really want to do after graduation.
3. What is the role of nursery schools in the UK and VN? Any differences?
Nursery school can be called pre-school, playschool, playgroup and nursery. Nursery in England is also called FS1 which is the first year of foundation before they go into primary or infants. They rarely used the word ‘kindergarten’ while this word is used widely to define the pre-school education in Viet Nam.
The role of nursery schools in both the UK and Vietnam are similar:
- The place to keep and take care of the children while their parents are busy working.
- Nursery schools gather all the children from nearly-same ages together, build a very soon environment/ society of human for children to adapt.
- Help each and every child achieve their full potential
- Enhance children's physical, intellectual, emotional and social development.
- Caregivers and teacher at schools have wide knowledge and sufficient skills to help children develop their individual languages and personalities. They help the shy children easily fit in and the very talkative ones know how to listen to others.
- Help children access to various activities throughout the day, including outdoor activities, and play with picture books, paints and other art materials. They can also work and play in groups.
- Provide children five sessions per week of two and a half hours each with the curriculum aiming to develop:
+ Successful Learners
+ Confident Individuals
+ Responsible Citizens
+ Effective Contributors
*The differences of nursery schools in 2 nations:
The UK
Vietnam
Children have the option of attending nursery at the ages of three or four years, before compulsory education begins
The nursery education in Vie Nam is not compulsory but is being developed countrywide
Pre-school education can be provided by childcare centers, playgroups, nursery schools and nursery classes within primary schools.
Nursery schools are divided into 2 levels: for children under 4 (pre-schools) and over 4 years old (kindergartens). They are also separated from primary schools.
Children access to high-quality education and to a good nutrition
In many rural and mountainous areas of Vietnam, children can’t access to good education condition and nutrition
Strict in recruiting qualified and experienced teachers/caregivers
Many under-qualified teachers/caregivers which cause some bad scandals
Pre-school education in nursery classes or schools is fully funded by local government for children aged over three.
In Vietnam, pre-school education isn’t funded by the government. Parents have to pay for this.
Children start going to the pre-schools at the age of 3
In some private pre-schools, they take care of the children from 4-month-old since the parents cannot have time to take care their own children
4. What do you think about the focus on developing personal qualities in the UK? Is it effective to all students? What are the reasons?
One of British education’s characteristics we mentioned is "learning for its own sake". This approach indicates that the aim of learning is for knowledge it brings but for vocational goal or other reasons. For example, if you are studying law, study it because the law is at the core of what a civilized society is, not because you will become a lawyer. Similarly, studying economics because economics sheds light on how humanity struggles and has always struggled to come to terms with its scarce resources doesn’t make you a businessman. A strong emphasis, therefore, is put on the quality of person that education produces.
Education that way can help people create ground knowledge and moral value that enrich their life in many ways. This is a good idea in terms of social justice as we can build a better society with people who have good behaviors and comprehensive knowledge in many fields. However, it isn’t always effective. Sometimes, students are practical. They just want to learn things that are useful for them and they can apply what they learn into their future jobs. So, do understanding derivative and integral even help you become a writer?
ASSESSMENT
No.
Name
Assessment
1.
Hoang Trung Duc
11%
2.
Pham Hoang Duc
9%
3.
Nguyen Bang Giang
11%
4.
Duong Thi Giang
11%
5.
Tran My Dung
9%
6.
Tran Thi Dung
9%
7.
Ho Lam Giang
11%
8.
Do Huong Giang
11%
9.
Nguyen Hong Dung
9%
10.
To Thi Dung
9%
TEACHER’S OPINIONS
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