The payments, which will come from outside the budget for schools, are intended to stop the middle classes dominating the best schools and correct the "significant underachievement" of disadvantaged pupils compared with their peers.

But teaching leaders attacked the government for putting no controls on how schools spend the money, saying the extra cash is unlikely to reach the pupils who need it most.

Exact details of the funding, including how to determine which children attract the premium and how much schools should receive per pupil, will be determined following 12 weeks of consultation.

Eligibility for free school meals, which are means-tested, has been touted as a potential measure of poverty on which to base the system, along with whether a child's parents receive out-of-work tax credits.

Prior to the election, the Lib Dems suggested that assigning the premium to children on Free School Meals would initially cost £2.5 billion a year.

Official figures show that just over one in four teenagers eligible for free school meals achieve five GCSEs at grades A*-C including English and maths, compared to more than half who are not eligible.

Chris Keates, general secretary of the NASUWT teaching union, said: “The proposed new pupil premium is unlikely to result in additional money going to the most disadvantaged pupils in the system.

“The pupil premium might follow the child but once it gets into the school it will disappear into the school’s budget and simply swell the excess of £2billion that is sitting unspent in school bank accounts.

Parents should be deeply concerned by the Coalition Government’s refusal to date to introduce any safeguards that would ensure that any additional funding arising from a pupil premium benefits the pupils for whom it was intended."

Dr Mary Bousted, general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, said: “If the pupil premium really provides extra and new money for schools with deprived pupils it should be widely supported. But the devil is in the detail, especially the big question of how much extra funding will follow each pupil."

Mr Gove said children from poorer backgrounds "are falling further and further behind in the qualifications race every year".

He added: "They are effectively condemned to ever poorer employment prospects, narrower social and cultural horizons, less by way of resources to invest in their own children – and thus a cycle of disadvantage and inequality is made worse with every year that passes."
--By Nick Collins,27 Jul 2010

But questions have been raised about the way they are marked after a report from Ofqual found that a significant number of papers were wrongly graded in previous years.

Analysis of the 2008 English exams revealed that up to 17 per cent of pupils could have been "misclassified" when their papers were marked.

The figure was seized on by teaching leaders, who said the exams ought to be scrapped because they are not a reliable form of assessment for children.

Last year the exams regulator admitted that up to half of pupils are given the wrong marks in the key stage two and three tests every year, with English papers the worst affected due to subjective marking.

In the latest study, a group of 1,387 pupils who took the English reading exam in 2007 were asked to also sit an advance copy of the paper which would be set the following year.

Analysis of the results showed that only 83 per cent of the pupils were classified correctly for the 2008 paper, meaning almost one in five was given a grade that did not reflect their ability.

Similar tests for science papers carried out between 2004 and 2008 showed that between 20 and 30 per cent of pupils each year were given different grades for their real exam as for the following year's paper.

The survey prompted fears that similar inaccuracies will be allowed to take place in the marking of this year's exams.

Martin Johnson, deputy general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL), said: "Ofqual’s report backs up what ATL has been saying for a long time – that a substantial percentage of key stage 2 test results are unreliable.

"Relying on test scores is highly dangerous when they are flawed and the more uses to which they are put the more flawed the conclusions. The government would be incredibly foolish to continue to keep its head in the sand and ignore this.

"A sensible government would accept all the irrefutable evidence and consign SATs to the dust bin of history.”

The tests have been widely criticised for being too restrictive and for putting too much pressure on children at a crucial stage of their education.

Up to a quarter of schools boycotted the exams last year, claiming they narrow the curriculum, hamper children's learning and put head teachers' jobs at threat due to their impact on league tables.

Earlier this month two teaching unions called for the tests to be scrapped in favour of a system where teachers would assess their pupils' progress, but Michael Gove, the Education Secretary, has pledged to press ahead with the exams in English and Maths in 2011.
--By Nick Collins,26 Jul 2010

Teachers' prudishness even resulted in complaints from children and parents, who felt there needed to be more teaching of sex at an earlier age.

At one in three schools pupils' knowledge of sex and relationships was rated "no better than satisfactory", while in three schools it was "inadequate".

In primary schools pupils were often left with only a "partial understanding" of sex and a number of pupils, mainly girls, told inspectors they needed more knowledge and information earlier than the age of 11.

Many secondary school pupils told inspectors their sex education was "too late and too limited to be of much use", while parents at one primary school successfully campaigned to have the sex education programme brought forward from year six to year five, meaning it was taught to children as young as 10.

In other schools children were given a good understanding about the mechanics of sex and puberty, but not taught about emotional development, relationships or marriage.

The report said sex had been "squeezed out" from the curriculum because "since the topics were particularly sensitive, some teachers felt uncomfortable in teaching such demanding themes."

It said many children pick up information on sex from TV dramas, adding: "This highlights the need for sex and relationships education in schools."

Plans by Labour to add sex education to the National Curriculum and remove parents’ right to withdraw children from lessons when they turn 15 were scrapped ahead of the general election.

The report identified "serious gaps" in the personal, social, health and economic education curriculum at 12 secondary schools, mainly related to sex, drugs, mental health, sexism and homophobia.

Teaching of the dangers of drugs and alcohol was criticised, with pupils in half of secondary schools only retaining a "rudimentary" understanding of the physical effects of drinking.

In a third of schools students' knowledge of drugs, alcohol and tobacco was one of the weakest aspects of their personal, social, health and economic education, with some teachers failing to make clear that drinking alcohol is illegal below the age of 18.

Many students believed heroin and cocaine were the drugs responsible for the most deaths each year, not realising that the number of deaths caused by alcohol and tobacco are significantly higher.

A spokesperson for the Department for Education said: “We want all young people to benefit from high quality PSHE teaching and we will take this report’s findings into consideration as we continue to look at the curriculum across the board.

"We will make an announcement on future plans for the curriculum as a whole in due course.”
--By Nick Collins,23 Jul 2010

“Every child in a District of Columbia public school has a right to a highly effective teacher — in every classroom, of every school, of every neighborhood, of every ward, in this city,” the chancellor said in a statement. “That is our commitment.”

All told, the district terminated 302 employees — 226 for poor performance, and 76 for other problems like not having the licensing required by the No Child Left Behind act. Besides the 241 teachers, those dismissed were librarians, counselors, custodians and other employees.

An additional 737 employees were put on notice that they had been rated “minimally effective,” the second-lowest category, and would have one year to improve their performance or be fired.

In the years before Ms. Rhee took over the district, almost all the teachers had high performance ratings and almost none were fired, but students, on average, had low achievement levels.

George Parker, the president of the Washington Teachers’ Union, said the union would challenge the firings. The union has taken issue with the evaluation system Ms. Rhee used, saying that it was designed more for punishing teachers than helping them improve.

Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers, also criticized the evaluation system and what she called the chancellor’s “destructive cycle of hire, fire, repeat.”

“Evaluations should include a component of student learning, of course, but there also has to be teacher development and support,” Ms. Weingarten said. “It can’t just be a ‘gotcha’ system, like the one in D.C.”

As part of the Obama administration’s focus on teacher effectiveness, Education Secretary Arne Duncan has pushed states to develop evaluation and pay models that link teacher ratings to their students’ test scores. States that use such models get points that increase their chances of winning part of the department’s $3.4 billion Race to the Top grant pool.

Since becoming chancellor in June 2007, Ms. Rhee has been intent on controlling how teachers in the district — known for a long history of low-performing schools — are managed, paid and, if necessary, fired.

Friday’s dismissals were not the chancellor’s first. In the 2007-8 school year, a district spokesman said, 79 teachers were fired for poor performance, and in 2008-9, 96 were. Also, after hiring more than 500 new teachers in the spring and summer of 2009, Ms. Rhee laid off 266 educators in the fall, citing budget problems. The union has filed suit challenging those dismissals.

Last month, the teachers’ union and the District Council approved a contract that weakened teachers’ seniority protection, in return for 20 percent raises and bonuses of $20,000 to $30,000 for teachers who meet certain standards, including rising test scores.

Only 16 percent of the teachers evaluated were rated in the top category, “highly effective.”

A spokesman for the district said that starting the new school year with a full complement of teachers would not be a problem because a pool of several hundred applicants had already been screened.
--By TAMAR LEWIN,July 23, 2010

However, there is one area that strikes me as worthy of discussion - the ability of the non-native residents to speak the local language.

It is hard to imagine trying to get by in the UK without English. As English is the global language, the majority of those in British shops and businesses do not speak anything other than English. There's precious little you can achieve in the country beyond tourism if you do not speak English.

But it's a different picture in Beijing of course. All signs here are in both Chinese and English and English is commonly heard among educated residents teaching their children. Rudimentary English is spoken by a great number of service industry staff.

English can be found in every region of life within Beijing, thus it's quite possible to get by without Chinese. Some expatriates hardly use Chinese at all.

They work in an English environment, live in foreign-dominated residential complexes, eat in the city's large variety of international restaurants and read about current affairs in English language newspapers. Indeed, it is entirely possible to live in Beijing and not speak a word of the local language. That said, the fact that you can function in Beijing's society on limited-to-no Chinese doesn't mean that you should.

It's hard to suggest that Beijing is like some in the UK, where there's a growing perception that residents from other countries have deliberately ghettoized themselves in certain areas, infrequently interacting with British society, rejecting the nation's values and refusing integration.

A large number of expatriates in Beijing are active members of the Beijing community, getting involved with Chinese culture at every opportunity despite their language skills lagging behind.

Naturally this excludes tourists and other short-term residents - you cannot expect such people to study the language deeply in every country they visit. But it does seem somewhat ignorant in my mind to live for a protracted period here without picking up a fair quantity of the language.

Mandarin isn't the easiest of languages in the world to learn. Some even suggest it may be the most difficult. Regardless, it seems unbelievable to me that you can live in a country for a couple of years or more without learning at least some of the language. The environment may allow you to get away with just English at times, but knowing Chinese as well could be so useful.

In the local supermarket, it is not uncommon to see an American attempting to speak English to the staff or being completely unaware of the most basic of conversational necessities, such as "Would you like a bag?" and the appropriate response.

At the bare minimum, some conversational Chinese could get that person something to carry their groceries home in, but they easily could manage so much more. Items are massively cheaper when you shop in the more exclusively Chinese shops and unless you're exceedingly wealthy (lucky for some), this is a considerable bonus.

You could even make new local friends - you cannot truly immerse yourself in a culture until you've discovered the basics of its language.

The characters and tones may seem daunting, but the grammar and vocabulary is surprisingly simple once you can see past that. A few hours a week could be all that's necessary to start seeing tangible results.

In the brief amount of time I've spent here, I've managed to grasp some of the basics of the language and already I'm reaping the rewards - so can you.

(China Daily 07/22/2010 page29)

Experts and Iranian expatriates were appalled, saying that if the sanctions prohibited Iranians from studying abroad, they would hurt precisely the kind of outward-looking young Iranians the West would like to help.

The Test of English as a Foreign Language, or Toefl, is a widely recognized measure of English proficiency and is often used by Western universities in evaluating international students for admission.

The statement posted on the E.T.S. Web site on Wednesday cited the United Nations Security Council resolution “affecting banks and financial institutions that conduct business in Iran.

“As a result of this resolution, E.T.S. is currently unable to process payments from Iran,” the statement said.

In an interview with the Iranian Mehr news agency, Ibrahim Khodai, an official at the organization that manages student testing in Iran, said the organization had run into problems paying registration fees to the company, and that currently students could not take the test.

However, he said that the test’s cancellation was unrelated to the latest sanctions against Iran, and he instead cited “problems we’ve had in paying registration fees to the E.T.S., an American organization.”

The United Nations Security Council approved a fourth round of sanctions against Iran in June. The resolution, which aims to press Iran to halt its nuclear enrichment program, mainly affects military purchases and financial transactions of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, which has been linked to the country’s nuclear program.

President Obama signed into law additional unilateral sanctions, including restrictions on foreign banks that do business with the Revolutionary Guards or other blacklisted Iranian institutions.

Karim Sadjadpour, an Iran expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said E.T.S. was exactly the kind of organization that should be exempt from the sanctions.

“Prohibiting Toefl from operating in Iran is counterproductive to the spirit of smart sanctions,” he said, noting that the exam is often a path to the outside world for young Iranians.

“The government is not being hurt by Toefl not operating in Iran,” he said. “It’s the people, and precisely the people we’re hoping to empower.”

An Iranian student currently studying biochemistry at Yale University, who did not want to be identified because the student’s family lives in Tehran, said losing the exam would throw another obstacle in the way of Iranians hoping to be educated in the West.

“It’s just going to make it harder for them,” said the student, who took the test as a high school student in Tehran.

A State Department spokesman, Philip J. Crowley, said the government was “exploring whether there are alternative mechanisms” to allow E.T.S. to continue its work in Iran. “Our intent remains to apply pressure on the Iranian government without placing an undue burden on the Iranian people,” he said.
--By YEGANEH JUNE TORBATI,July 17, 2010

In foreign languages and geography, entries from academies were more than a third lower than the average for maintained schools.

Opponents said the figures showed academies had abandoned non-compulsory academic subjects in favour of less challenging GCSEs and equivalent qualifications to boost their performance in league tables.

Academies, which are not subject to freedom of information laws, have faced calls to be more open over the curriculum they offer and the pay of staff.

The figures, based on exams taken last summer, came to light following a question in Parliament by Tristram Hunt, MP for Stoke-on-Trent central, and research by Civitas.

It follows data showing that academy pupils are awarded twice as many A* to C grades in non-GCSE qualifications as maintained schools, but two thirds as many of the equivalent GCSE grades.

Anastasia de Waal, Director of Education at Civitas, said: "Academies are supposed to be improving not impoverishing education, so to find that the proportion of academy students doing core academic subjects is much lower than average makes a mockery out of the notion that academies are exemplary.

"Withdrawing academic GCSEs and replacing them with weak substitutes has been great for academies’ league table position but hugely detrimental to the already often limited opportunities available to the young people they serve."

In academies, just 21 per cent of pupils took a GCSE exam in history and 17 per cent in geography last year, compared with 30 per cent and 26 per cent respectively in maintained schools.

Academies entered just eight per cent of pupils for individual exams in physics and nine per cent in chemistry and biology, compared with 12 per cent for each of the three subjects in maintained schools.

The biggest difference was in foreign languages, where just 26 per cent of academy pupils were entered for a GCSE compared with 41 per cent in all maintained schools.

Dr Mary Bousted, general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers union, said: "There is nothing wrong with academies devising a curriculum which will get the children to school and get them wanting to learn.

"But the difficulty is when the qualifications are a spurious equivalent to a GCSE, which are widely used to push up the GCSE results of academies to show that they are getting much better results than state schools."

A spokesperson for the Department for Education said: "The fact is that Academies are working - academies have been over three times more likely to be rated outstanding by Ofsted than other state schools, since their new tougher inspection regime was introduced, while half as many Academies are judged inadequate.

“Ministers are clear that young people should be entered for the qualifications that are in their best interests rather than being entered for exams simply to boost the league table position of the school."
--=By Nick Collins,16 Jul 2010

Host family programs are very common in developed countries. During the last decade, China has loosened restriction for foreign exchange and lodging, prompting a surge in Beijing host families. However, the market lacked a system and unified management.

Following the successful example of "Olympic families", which hosted tourists during the 2008 Olympics, BIEE's program decided to standardize the service for exchange students. It aims to regulate homestay services and alleviate the current shortage of student-exchange lodging.

BIEE believes host families can help foreign students understand China at a more complex level and also improve their language skills. It said exchange programs could push Beijing toward becoming a "world city" and boost the international impression of the country.

As the first of its kind in China, BIEE has set the standard for selecting host families. In order to apply for the program, each host family is required to have good communication skills, a vacant bed and a home near the relevant exchange school.

BIEE intends to help up to 500 host families within the next two years and said it will push for shared lodging resources across the five provinces near Beijing.

Each host family will also be allocated an official profile. BIEE has hired professors and teachers to rank host families as "Science Homes," "Culinary Homes," and "Artistic Homes".

Shang Xiaoai, a media executive with the Home Stay Program, said they have received 150 applicants for host families, more than they expected.

These families will host the first group of international students during this year's winter holiday.

During the two weeks, international students will tour around Beijing.

"The selected host families are very excited," Shang said.
--By Wendy Qian (China Daily),Updated: 2010-07-16 08:55

Since 95 percent of young people are enrolled in schools, many experts believe innovative school programs can go a long way to help fight childhood obesity.

Schools in the state of Vermont are focusing on more than just academics, they are also teaching children about making healthy food choices. And one is even teaching the children how to enjoy playing outside.

At a preschool in Pittsford, Vermont, nearly one-third of class time is devoted to active, outdoor play.

The idea of having to teach kids how to play outside leaves Anita Caldwell, a teacher at Calvary Preschool in Pittsford, Vermont, dumbfounded.

"You just kind of take for granted that kids want to go outside and play but then you recognize, when you talk to them, that they don't," says Caldwell. "They spend their day with a large screen TV and some snacks."

Fellow teacher, Laura Peterson, agrees. "When I was growing up - 'shoo!' - out the door in the morning and you'd play outside until the streetlights came on at night." 

But it's different today, she says. With many parents working, it's often easier for them to have their kids play inside with a video game or watch TV.

Peterson says an early childhood education class got her thinking about ways to incorporate more activity into their school day. She began to research playground equipment and found many experts touting the benefits of 'back to nature' unstructured play.

Calvary preschool is located near a series of hiking trails, so Peterson approached her colleagues and together they revised their three day teaching schedule so that every Friday is hike day.

Teacher Joanne Pye says 15 kids come to the morning session while another 15 attend in the afternoon.

"Fridays we are only inside for half an hour to gather together. We meet, we talk about what the hike is for the day, and then they pack their backpacks and we head out the door - no matter what the weather."

Pye has seen dramatic changes in the kids because of their weekly hike day.

"At the beginning of the year, it seemed like [the kids would say] 'Oh, I'm getting tired, this is too long - when are we going back to school?' And now on Monday mornings they come in and say, 'Is this hike day?' So it's changed completely."

Loosening up

Teacher Laura Peterson says kids today are more used to structured play, where they have to follow rules, listen to a coach, or play on specific equipment. So, she says, their first big challenge was getting the kids to freely explore the things along the trail.

"Then we started to go off the trail into the woods, and the kids were floored. They had no idea what to do. I said, 'Wow, look at all these trees, let's play!' And they kind of looked at me, 'What are you talking about?' So we had to show them how to walk on trees and how to swing off of them onto other branches and see the little holes underneath that you can play in."

Halfway along the hike, teacher Joanne Pye stops near a huge boulder. Within seconds, the kids are climbing all over it, like ants on honey.

"The first time we visited this rock last fall - there were maybe one or two children out of 15 who knew how to climb up this," says Pye.
"Research shows that if children are exposed to the outdoors between the ages of 1 and 6, they're going to love the outdoors and want more of it, and hopefully they'll become responsible for their environment."

At a time when many schools have cut back on their physical education programs, Calvary's weekly hike day is unique. Teacher Laura Peterson says they got their inspiration from a teaching method that originated in Germany in the 1960s. Preschoolers who attend these so-called 'forest kindergartens' spend all their time learning outside from nature.

While a handful of U-S schools have incorporated the teaching method, Peterson felt it was a bit too drastic a change for their public preschool. One day a week outside probably isn't enough, she says. But as she watches her students run through the woods, she smiles, and says it's a good start.

More schools are focusing on help children make good food choices. In Vermont, 57 schools are using snack time to encourage kids to eat more fruits and vegetables.

During snack time at Mettawee Community School in West Pawlet, all eyes are on Brook Burnham as she wheels her food cart from classroom to classroom.

The 190 youngsters at Mettawee enjoy fresh fruits and vegetables every morning, thanks to a $13,000 grant funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. To qualify, a school has to have a high percentage of low income students.

Heather Champney, Mettawee's kitchen manager, says they couldn't afford the fruit, or a part-time employee to prepare it, without the funding. "Just for an average for the month of March, we spent $1,300 just on the fruit and vegetables."

Champney believes it's money well spent, since so many kids don't get fresh fruits or vegetables at home.

Mandy Mayer is Mettowee's nurse and health coordinator.

"We can stand up in front of a class as much as we want and lecture them about healthy eating," says Mandy Mayer, Mettowee's nurse and health coordinator. But for the kids to really absorb and practice what they learn, Mayer believes hands-on modeling is what works best.

"They have to have the fruits and vegetables there every day, so they can see this is what we do. They'll be hungry, they're ready for it and all together as a class they're sharing in wholesome foods."

It's a lesson some of the children have already learned.

"Yeah - because the choices we make now can affect who we are when we grow up," says Autumn Manning who is 12. "Like, if we get into the habit of eating fresh fruits and veggies now, we'll be more likely to eat them later on because we'll already have formed the habit. And a lot of people just stick with the habits they form as children."

Lesson learned

Her classmate Emily Couper says it's also a lesson kids are bringing home.

"Yesterday, me and my mom were at the store and I asked her to pick up some kiwi because that was a fruit that I had here and I really enjoyed it."

Officials at the U.S. Department of Agriculture say schools in all fifty states are participating in the fresh fruits and vegetables program and the response has been overwhelmingly positive.

Because it has been offered nationally for less than two years, there is little scientific data on the program's effectiveness. But officials say anecdotal evidence has encouraged the agency to boost funding from $40 million to $150 million annually, so that more schools will be able to take part next year.

--Nina Keck | Vermont 25 June 2010

These plans were announced during a high-profile meeting on Wednesday.

At the national work meeting on education, President Hu Jintao emphasized education as a top national priority, while Premier Wen Jiabao outlined five objectives of developing education, the first of which is to promote equality in education.

Wen identified the tasks in promoting education equality as channeling more education resources to underdeveloped areas, extending government grants to more students from low-income families, and building more special education schools, among others.

Responding to the central government, local governments have already initiated projects or are considering plans to promote equal access to education.

The municipal government of Beijing, for instance, has announced it will build 118 public kindergartens in the next three years to meet the public demand for daycare for pre-school age children, as well as to educate these children, said mayor Guo Jinlong.

Rocketing kindergarten fees and difficult admission policies to kindergartens have become a top concern for parents with pre-school children in Beijing, as the city population growth has outpaced the development of kindergartens.

This year, the city government has already invested 30 million yuan (about 4.41 million U.S. dollars) to expand building spaces hosting kindergartens and will continue to do so with another investment of 60 million yuan.

Additionally, the city will begin building 30 new kindergartens with nearly 20,000 beds.

Also, Beijing municipal government plans to build more schools or expand the responsibilities of current schools to enroll the children of migrant workers, according to Guo.

Statistics indicate that four-fifths of the nearly 10 million children who have moved to cities with their parents are from families of migrant workers and have been enrolled in public schools.

Also, projects to close the gap between education facilities between urban and rural areas have already kicked off in provinces including Henan, Sichuan, Shannxi, Liaoning and Anhui, as well as Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

The mayor of Shanghai, Han Zheng, said Shanghai was currently pushing for equal pay for teachers in schools in downtown areas and those in schools located at the city's outskirts.

This is to ensure all children receive education of equal quality, he said.

China began to draft its National Plan for Medium and Long-term Education Reform and Development in August 2008, which aims to extend educational opportunities and raise educational quality as two of its five strategic goals.

The State Council, or the Cabinet, adopted the plan in May 2010.

Zhang Li, director of the National Center for Education Development Research, told Xinhua that educational equality has become a major task for China's education development and reform.

"For now, the starting point to realize educational equality is to work on equal access to education, given China' s national conditions. However, with the development of China's economy, the Chinese people will fulfill their hopes for 'good education'", he said.

Mayor Guo of Beijing told Xinhua after the conference that equality in education is one of the essentials for maintaining social harmony.

When Wang Zefang arrived for his first class at Gaojin No 3 Middle School two years ago, he was among thousands included in Shanghai's trailblazing plans to integrate children of migrant workers into free mainstream education.

Before then, State-run and public schools were closed to families without hukou (permanent residency), forcing them to pay for their children to attend private but poor institutes.

Yet, despite being taught alongside his native peers, 16-year-old Wang is under no illusion that the invisible fence between them has been knocked down.

Of the 300 migrant children who arrived at the Baoshan district school in 2008, Wang was one of a handful admitted into regular classes. The others are housed in a separate school building, wear an alternative uniform and have different teachers and textbooks. Even meal times and finishing times are different.

"I feel distinct discrimination against us, it has just been brought inside the school walls," said Wang, who had to pass an exam to be accepted into the main school.

Teachers warned his class to stay clear of the migrant children, describing them as "wild", "lacking in manners" and "poor".

"Because of the divide, I have not talked to any students in the other building all semester," he said, adding that he can imagine "how sad they must feel facing such segregation on a daily basis".

Although Wang is one of the lucky ones, he explained that his younger sister, Wang Xuemeng, is on the other side of the fence at a public school in neighboring Yangpu district.

"The conditions are better there than the private school she used to go to but she often complains of unfair treatment and is not happy," said the concerned brother. "She says both the teachers and parents (with hukou) feel migrant worker families set a bad example, so they are not friendly towards them."

Almost 20 percent of Shanghai's population is made up of farmers who flock to the metropolis each year in search of better salaries, bringing with them more than 400,000 children.

For years under the much-maligned hukou system, migrant children have been unable to enjoy the nine years of compulsory education in their adopted homes, creating a huge demand for private schools.

However, in recent years Shanghai has been among the first Chinese cities to close such facilities - most of which suffer a lack of resources and poor standards - and enroll students at public schools as part of a nationwide campaign.

The city government also bought several decent private schools and injected more funds to improve standards.

Most of the 100 or so private schools in Baoshan district, an area popular with migrants due to its cheap housing, were shuttered by 2008, with only 16 primaries kept open to cater to 14,000 students. About 40,000 other youngsters were spread out across the district's public schools, authorities reported.

Shanghai's educational commission stated that, by the end of the year, all migrant children in the city will have access to its free compulsory education.

No discrimination

The program has been hailed as a significant step in the reform of China's education system, yet the segregation of students from different backgrounds (the exact number of schools doing so is not available but experts suggest it is common practice) has sparked fresh concerns over the equality of education in the country.

"Students like us have to be outstanding to be allowed into public schools and get the same standard of education as the locals. If not, we're placed in separate classes," said Wang Zefang.

There are still limits to what migrant children can accomplish, he said, "such as it would be impossible for me to get into a first-class public schools no matter how well I perform."

Yu Haizhou, head of Gaojin No 3 Middle School, denied any suggestion the school discriminates against migrants by putting them in different classrooms.

"We used to have 600 students, so you can imaging what a big burden on our educational resources it was to take in 300 students all at once," he told China Daily. "We made the most convenient choice and maintained a division between them.

"It's a question of management, not discrimination," he insisted, adding that huge differences in study levels also posed difficulties.

Migrant children in Shanghai use nationally standardized textbooks, while natives use books produced locally, which are far advanced in some subjects, particularly English.

"Also, migrant students are not allowed to sit secondary school and college entrance examinations in Shanghai (or in any other city where they do not have hukou)," he said. "They have to return to their hometown, where the test will be based on the nationally standardized textbooks.

"So it really doesn't make sense to teach these students together with the locals," the head teacher added.

The fact students eat and leave at different times is to prevent congestion at the school canteen, he explained. "Our school is already too small for 600 students, let alone for the new additions."

Yu revealed that parents put the school under a lot of pressure not to integrate its students because they fear it could hinder their child's development.

"We know this could be seen as prejudice but the fact is, on average, the migrant children are at a lower level in their studies and are a lot more difficult to teach due to their poor living conditions," he said. "They move from place to place, change schools often and most of their parents do not pay enough attention to their education.

"What we can do right now is to encourage more communication between the two groups and hopefully minimize the gaps and misunderstandings."

However, Zhang Yichao, founder of a voluntary center dedicated to providing free extracurricular education for migrant students in Shanghai since 2002, disagreed that differences in academic performance are a major hurdle to having children share the same class.

"Many people simply don't know how diligent these migrant students are," he argued. "Judging from my experiences, after a year of hard work most of them would be able to catch up."

Segregation in public schools will ultimately have a negative psychological impact on both groups of students, he warned.

"It's even worse than having schools exclusively for migrants. They may have poor standards but at least there the youngsters can feel equal with their classmates," he said. "The government has failed to take into account the potential impact of the new policy, which has actually sacrificed the interests of many innocent migrant children."

He urged the authorities to allow students to sit exams at the schools they attend to help remove the barriers in education and allow more people to go on to higher education.

Giving a choice

Despite growing calls for the government to reform the hukou system, though, some education chiefs say cities like Shanghai would be unable to handle the inevitably large influx of migrant students, who would all stand a better chance of qualifying for the top universities.

Such a move would only put extra pressure on educational resources, said Zong Weirong, head teacher at Luoxi Primary School, one of the 16 private schools taken over by Baoshan officials.

However, Gu Jun, a professor of sociology at Shanghai University, insisted the opening-up would not result in a substantial surge in the migrant population as many would be deterred by the high cost of living.

Even if it did attract more people, it is the responsibility of the central government, not the local government, to allocate more funds for a city to expand its educational resources, he said.

That way, authorities would not come under financial pressure, he added, and "in time it may even help a city to develop into a world-class center famous for its quality education".

Gu did agree, though, that the separation of students in public schools is fairly rational under the current national conditions, which are likely to exist for the next 20 years. Given the hukou system and the huge gap between China's urban east and rural west, both in economic development and education, it is "impractical" and "impossible" for schools to integrate the two groups, he said.

"Separation is the last resort," he said, "but it can at least act as a buffer zone to help children to adapt to the changing environment."

However, once migrant students manage to catch up with natives or prove themselves capable, they should be given a choice where they want to study, he said.

"We must ensure migrant students enjoy the right to compete," added Gu.
--By Qian Yanfeng (China Daily),2010-07-14 07:53

Hu made these remarks during a high-profile work conference on national education in Beijing.

Education, said Hu, is the cornerstone of national growth and social progress - and the basic means to improve all-round development of individuals.

To realize this priority, financing and public resources must be systematically reallocated to education and human resources development, according to Hu.

Education reform and development should be student-oriented, added Hu, who voiced a need for authorities to implement fundamental quality education techniques and standards. These, he said, would hone students' sense of responsibility, their innovative spirits - and a capacity to solve practical problems.

Chinese officials, he noted, should also turn to innovative techniques in deepening education reform via international education cooperation and promoting learning equality.

Protecting citizens' lawful rights to education, supporting those in need while balancing education development between various regions, including urban and rural segments of society, added Hu, is likewise essential.

In urging authorities to focus on the quality of education, Hu called for efforts to assemble a contingent of accredited, ethical, enthusiastic and high-quality teachers.

China's National Plan for Medium and Long-term Education Reform and Development should be fully carried out, Hu said, in an effort in which all Chinese citizens can be effectively mobilized

Senior leaders Wen Jiabao, Jia Qinglin, Li Changchun, Xi Jinping, Li Keqiang, He Guoqiang and Zhou Yongkang also attended the conference.
--(China Daily),2010-07-15 07:39

A shortage of money could lead to graduates abandoning their career goals, the survey suggested, with one in three students saying they would look for a higher paid job rather than their career vocation in order to pay off their debt.

Graduates are poised to leave university burdened by record levels of debt, with those leaving university in 2011 forecast to owe an average of £21,198, according to university guide push.co.uk.

In 2009 the average debt of graduates was £15,812, while for those starting university courses in September – most of whom will graduate in 2013 – the figure is likely to rise to £23,500.

This projection could increase further if the government lifts the current cap on tuition fees following an ongoing review into university funding being led by Lord Browne, the former BP chief executive.

The new survey, carried out by the Association of Investment Companies (AIC), an investment trade organisation, showed that half of students expect to take more than 10 years to pay off their debts incurred at university.

Results also indicated the recession has been a burden on parents, with 82 per cent saying it has increased the financial strain of supporting their children through university.

The AIC said: "Many young people go to university to enjoy some of the best years of their life but the reality on graduation is a huge financial burden which will take years to pay off."
--By Nick Collins,15 Jul 2010

In the UK, the quality of academic research is evaluated through a detailed and rigorous system of peer review, evidence of culture and esteem. And it has been rightly, in my view, proposed that the impact of research be evaluated. These evaluation systems, though not perfect, have enhanced the reputation of the UK's research quality. In academic journal publishing, the need for reliable peer review systems, especially blind peer review, to improve the quality of publications cannot be overstated.

In contrast, journal articles not properly peer-reviewed in China may not include one or more of the key elements of quality research such as introducing the background literature and context of the research, outlining clearly the research aims, methodology and findings, and providing conclusions based on rigorous and systematic analysis of the evidence and recognition of different theoretical perspectives.

It is not only the number of journal articles produced that is important, the quality of research is crucial too. Implementing rigorous blind peer review where it is not practised is one way of enhancing journal quality, although not an ideal way, given it is still potentially open to subjective opinion. Moreover, high quality research should be published only for reasons of universal benefit.

Apart from improving journal quality, another way to enhance educational and academic quality, identified by policymakers, practitioners and researchers across all key policy areas including science, technology, health and education, is to develop more widely the capacity to conduct high quality research.

International collaborative research is an important way of achieving this aim. For example one such collaboration is being conducted by China National Institute for Educational research and the University of Bristol's Graduate School of Education, UK, with financial support from UKaid.

The project is investigating the complex nature of schools' effectiveness in China and how local context may play a key role in determining definitions of educational effectiveness and quality. We (University of Bristol's Graduate School of Education) aim to provide new insights into the impact of student characteristics, school context and process factors on students' attainment and progress in school using innovative quantitative methodology (multilevel modeling) and the relevance of these factors in the evaluation of schools' performance in China.

A further collaborative project aims to investigate the nature and extent of teachers' professional development and learning in China as well as the relevance of professional learning communities in Chinese schools. The projects seek to provide empirical data to enhance understanding of teachers' development and learning and how these aspects relate to schools' effectiveness and improvement of the education level in China.

Overall, the research seeks to promote the development of teacher and school quality as well as innovation in school evaluation and "value added" approaches through guidelines for implementation and bottom-up and top-down dialogues involving key stakeholders such as local and national policymakers, teachers and students. Such research is relevant because the quality of primary and secondary education is a crucial input contributing to the quality of higher education outcomes, especially in providing students with the necessary grounding in core knowledge and skills (and assessing these appropriately), in order to bring students up to the minimum level required for university education.

In these circumstances, building research capacity in China to enhance primary and secondary school quality, through, for example, teacher training and support for school self evaluation, is another important strategy to address educational quality issues. The key message is that higher education capacity development can play a crucial role in supporting and improving the quality of basic education, which then subsequently feeds back into enhancing the quality of higher education.

As the World Bank and UNESCO said 10 years ago: "The quality of knowledge generated within higher education institutions, and its availability to the wider economy, is becoming increasingly critical to national competitiveness." They also rightly emphasized that "A strong research system at the national level opens up the possibility that substantial additional public benefits can be realized through international links."

This is precisely why Chinese students and academics should contribute to these global benefits, reforming and improving evaluation systems for educational and academic quality. Original and good research, especially in science, economics and social sciences, has a trickle-down effect on society. And it offers additional benefits even without international links, though international collaboration and exchange of the best evaluation policy and practice can bring substantial advantages to all partners in relation to lessons learned elsewhere.

The author is a professor at the Graduate School of Education, University of Bristol, UK. (Source: China Daily)

The results will help related departments work out detailed and effective measures to control and prevent the disease from spreading further, according to Zhejiang Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which is running the program.

The move comes after the Hangzhou branch of the CDC found eight HIV carriers during a spot check of 2,000 university students at three universities, a case rate of 0.4 percent.

According to research conducted by the CDC, there are an increasing number of university students aged 19 to 23 who are HIV carriers or AIDS patients, Xinhua News Agency quoted a Zhejiang CDC official as having said.

Sexual contact is the major route of transmission for the virus and gay men are at higher risk of contracting the disease, the official said.

Zhejiang CDC has yet to disclose when the examinations will begin and how many students will be involved in the program.

At the end of May, there were more than 100 new HIV carriers and AIDS patients in Hangzhou, a 7.28 percent increase compared to the same period last year, according to statistics from the Hangzhou CDC.

About 3.7 percent of the city's new carriers are students, the majority of which contracted the disease via sexual contact. Among them, 48.3 percent are gay.

The use of condoms is the most effective means of protection against the virus, said an official of Shanghai CDC, who added that multiple sexual partners posed a high risk of infection.

Universities in China are stepping up their efforts to educate students about sexual health and how to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS.

"We have a lecture on AIDS prevention for all freshmen at our university, because we have noticed that university students are more and more sexually open," said Xu Liyun, a tutor at Shanghai International Studies University.

"Some students may feel embarrassed at the lecture, but we insist on their attending in order to protect them from getting hurt due to a lack of knowledge," she explained.

The Red Cross also periodically joins forces with campus doctors to educate students on how to protect themselves from contracting the virus, Xu added.
-By Yang Yijun (China Daily),Updated: 2010-07-15 07:19

Now, China has the world's largest educational system. In 2009, China had a student population of 260 million, who were taught by 14 million teachers.

Illiteracy among young people and people of working age dwindled to below 3.58 percent.

-- Now the nine-year free compulsory education has been popularized. The enrollment rates in elementary schools and junior high schools have reached 99 percent. The average year span of education among people above 15 have reached 9.5 years.

-- In 2009, China's higher learning institutions had 29.79 million students, with a gross enrolment rate of 24.2 percent, equaling the world average level.

Besides, 82 million people now have higher education degrees.

-- Universal access to education has been a goal of the country since the era of Chairman Mao Zedong.

-- Late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping once said that education is crucial to the development of science and technology which plays a key role in China's modernization drive.

-- On June 21, 2010, China passed the medium and long term guidelines for educational development over the next decade, which reiterated that education is the cornerstone in the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

-- China has put into place a free compulsory education system across urban and rural areas. From 2006 to 2010, the central government has allocated additional funding worth 218 billion yuan (32 billion U.S. dollars) to shore up compulsory education in rural areas.

-- The monopoly of public schools has been ended. Now China has over 100,000 private schools.

-- Government spending in education has increased year on year. In 2009, the funding allocated to the education sector by the central government reached 198 billion yuan (29 billion U.S. dollars), up by 23.6 percent year on year.

-- The government decided in 2006 that public education resources should shift more to rural areas, under-developed central and western regions, poor and bordering regions, and communities with ethnic minority groups. --BEIJING, July 13 (Xinhua)

Furthermore, no tobacco products may be sold on campus.

At institutions of higher-learning, no faculty, staff, students or visitors will be permitted to smoke on campus in non-smoking areas like classrooms and libraries.

Teachers will be required to refrain from smoking in front of students.

Additionally, tobacco control must be integrated into new students' orientation programs.

The notice also forbids tobacco advertising at schools. It also asks for no-smoking signs to be posted in conspicuous locations at schools.

China is home to over 300 million smokers. Each year one million people die of smoking-related diseases.
--(Xinhua),Updated: 2010-07-14 11:03

Li had been living with his parents in the Fengtai district of South Beijing, a one-hour bus ride from his school in the northern part of the city. With the deadlines for the applications nearing, Li decided to stay in the school's dorm, which had a midnight lights-out regulation.

"I didn't want to disturb my room mates so I took my laptop to the balcony to complete the application essays," Li said. "It was so cold that my fingers almost froze."

But all of Li's applications to 11 US universities - including Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Stanford and MIT - ended up being rejected, despite the fact that Li topped the national college entrance examination for science in Beijing this summer and would easily gain admission to any university in China.

His failure to gain admission to study in the US has triggered a debate about China's education system among students, parents and educators.

Educators are questioning whether the ability to gain admission to a top US university should be the sole standard to evaluate the quality of a student. Some Chinese students who studied overseas, meanwhile, are talking about the disadvantages of China's education system.

Shen Xianzhang, vice-principal of Li's high school, said: "The standard used by the US is very different from that in China and we respect that. However, it does not mean the US standard is the world standard. Being rejected by universities in the US does not mean Li is not an accomplished student."

Zhang Xueke, a high school teacher in Beijing, said Chinese students have been so obsessed with US universities that their efforts in student activities and volunteer work seem to be resume-driven.

"As a result, Li's resume may seem too perfect to be true," Zhang said.

A Beijing student, who studied at a US university last year, criticized China's education system for stifling creativity and innovation and said that was why she and her parents found the US education system favorable.

As far as the selection process is concerned, the student, who did not want to be named, said: "We cannot really blame US universities for having a higher standard for international students because they have to ensure their students have the opportunity to receive education."

Li, the child of a military researcher and a statistician, said the reasons for his rejection may include his inability to project the best image of himself, a too-well-rounded presentation of his personality without focus and a request for full financial aid.

But he has no regrets.

"It's better to be rejected by Princeton than by yourself," Li wrote on his blog. "I think the greatest success I have had is that I have the courage to apply for full financial aid, to resist asking for help from consulting agencies and I can confront setbacks."

Li, who studied at the High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China in Beijing, one of the top schools in the country, said he has learned much from the lengthy and time-consuming process of application.

"It provoked me to reflect upon my 18 years of life and made me realize what I have achieved. As a result, I am more clear about what I need, who I am and my future. If I did not try applying, I would never have thought about such things," he said.

Although Li was aware that asking for 100 percent financial aid would lower his chance of being offered a place, he still chose to do so.

"I cannot let my parents work too hard and give up everything they have earned in exchange for my education in the US," Li said.

His mother said the behavior was typical of her son.

"The last thing he wants to do is to add more financial burden on us," said Zhang Jiahong. "He would rather give up the opportunity to go to the US than let us sell everything to support him."

It was also the reason why he did not ask for help from educational consulting firms when he applied, which may have contributed to his rejections.

"Taibo showed his potential when he was really young," said Zhang, while standing in her son's room surrounded by outdated furniture and austere decoration. The most visible thing in the room was a book shelf filled with best-selling novels in English, philosophy texts, science magazines and exam prep books.

"Throughout all the exams in school, he has been very consistent. His father and I did not spend much time on his education because he takes the initiative," Zhang said.

Li also left a good impression among the school faculty.

Tang Bubin, the teacher in charge of his class, said: "He is very meticulous in academic studies and has been very frank and easy going. What is most impressive is his integrity, which has earned the respect from all his classmates, also his strong management and organizational skills."

Li, who has now accepted an offer from Hong Kong University, still has "unwavering confidence" in the quality of China's educational system, though he believes studying abroad does have advantages.

"It is possible that I will seek higher education in the US in the future," he said. "To have an international outlook and diverse experience is very important."
--By Wang Gege (China Daily),2010-07-13 09:56