20th March 2013 9:00
By Blue Tutors
Over the past few months there has been a deluge of newspaper headlines claiming that the UK are continuously bagging the bottom spots in various worldwide and continental tests. This is not only disconcerting for the generations of children to come that will be educated in the UK, but is also somewhat embarrassing.
The brightest primary school pupils are dropping behind their Asian counterparts in Maths when they reach the age of sixteen while teenagers are ranked bottom for their ability to learn a modern language. In Europe, the Nordic countries tend to perform much better across the board while in comparison to the world, Taiwan and China continue to achieve high results.
It would seem that the reasons for these embarrassingly low scores and percentages are due to a differing culture and attitude towards education rather than examination systems. In a number of countries in East Asia, pupils tend to spend considerably more time studying. Mathematical education in particular is considered to be extremely valuable by teachers, parents and students alike. However in the UK, we seem to have latched onto a lax attitude regarding maths which promotes inability as being acceptable.
Are we getting left behind in the global race because of our relaxed attitude regarding education? Quite possibly. While the UK potentially slips back into a triple-dip recession, Asia and Africa are in the midst of an industrial and economic revolution. They are working hard in every element of life, including education, in order to achieve the top spot in the global economy. Promoting a hard work ethic promotes growth and this starts with primary school education upwards. When will the UK realise this and get into action?