"China students are so bitter!" My classmate Ms. Li always sends out such feelings.

My middle school classmate, Ms. Li, is working hard in first-tier cities. She didn't get married until she was 30. 35 years old, stable income, with children.

Like most parents in China, she is very worried about her children. Whenever she sees her children doing their homework late, she always despises the "inhumanity" of China education in the QQ group of her classmates, and attaches great importance to the scores. Envy western education, pay attention to the cultivation of children's interests, have less academic burden and be relaxed and happy.

So, for the sake of her children's future, when she was in the fourth grade, she really immigrated to England.

When she first arrived in England, Ms. Li always liked to watch her children go to school. In addition to English, mathematics, science and other "main courses", there are various courses, including drama, music, communication skills courses, reading, story time and other activities.

Classes begin at 9 am and end at 4: 30 pm. If parents don't have time to pick up their children, they can stay at school and take various interest classes, such as sports, crafts, gardening, dancing, cooking, magic and so on. Of course, there will be a charge, about 10 (100 RMB). After returning home, the homework burden is very small, almost all of them are reading.

What makes Ms. Li more happy is that the school is lax in managing students and gives priority to encouragement. So the child relaxed and smiled more.

Looking at the happy expression in the photos of her and her children, we are all secretly jealous, only hating ourselves for making less money and not being able to immigrate.

However, Ms. Li is no longer immersed in "happiness" ......

2

Once she went back to China to visit relatives, and we sat together for dinner and asked her about her children in England.

She gave a wry smile and slowly spoke out her difficulties.

When she first arrived in England, she felt that the children were relaxed and happy, and she was also very pleased, but she gradually felt that something was wrong.

First of all, the child's mathematical calculation ability has dropped, and she can help the child make up for it. However, children's learning is increasingly based on interest. They are used to encouragement and praise, and pay little attention to their weaknesses and deficiencies in learning. You might as well work hard at home.

I said, isn't that good? Cultivating students' inquiry ability is what our education lacks.

Ms. Li said helplessly, but in the future, if children want to go to private middle schools, the difficulty and learning intensity of private middle schools are no worse than those in China. In the end, it will be difficult for children to pass the selection of famous foreign schools.

Ms. Li said with emotion, after all, I am a financial accountant, and my mathematical calculation ability is more important. If primary schools don't train their thinking and calculation speed, can they still take down their jobs now? However, public schools in Britain pay too little attention to cultivating children's mathematics. How can this work? I have to transfer my children to private primary schools. I can't keep my children like this any longer.

When Ms. Li returns to Britain, she will really transfer her children to private schools. The annual tuition fee is at least 20,000 pounds (6.5438+0.8 million RMB), not counting meals.

Ms. Li's baby son went to a private primary school in England and never heard the teacher's praise again. Instead, it is directly said that children are insufficient, children are no longer happy, and feel the same pressure as at home. The only good thing is that the child's math performance has been good, and other achievements are a bit terrible.

It turns out that private schools in Britain are completely different from public schools. Some courses have high requirements and supporting facilities, large workload and strict requirements. Many parents are also very concerned about their children's grades. And extracurricular activities are no less than those in public schools. It is necessary to train and cultivate students' personal abilities, which also makes Ms. Li's children feel that time is not enough.

Ms. Li, who is strong, began to report various cram schools for her children, and they are all comprehensive cram schools for science, geography and French. The cost has increased a lot.

Now, Ms. Li's son went to a private middle school as he wished. According to the school regulations, he can only enter the next stage of study if he gets 6 A's in the GCSE exam, otherwise he will transfer. She stopped talking openly about education in China and occasionally lamented privately that the current education in China was fair.

I took pains to introduce Ms. Li. At this time, smart readers may have discovered a terrible phenomenon: British education has achieved class solidification and stratification.

three

There are two types of schools in the British secondary education system, one is government-funded public schools, and the other is private schools. Public schools are free of tuition; One year's tuition in private schools is equivalent to one year's income of ordinary families, which is difficult for ordinary families to afford.

The teaching quality of private schools and public schools is very different. Compared with public schools, private elite schools have strict management and great academic pressure, and many places are even more cruel than domestic key middle schools.

Of course, in the end, the fate and future of students are different. The number of students from five private schools, including Eton College in England, admitted by Oxford and Cambridge University is equivalent to the total number of students admitted by these two schools from 1800 public schools.

Eton College

80% of the important positions in British society are held by graduates from private schools, and13 of members of the House of Representatives, half of senior doctors and more than two-thirds of high court judges come from private schools that only accommodate 7% of the British population.

Public schools are educational institutions for poor and immigrant children. Here, children are not required to master much knowledge, nor are students required to be rigorous, but to advocate happy learning.

Children in public schools can really have a happy childhood, and teachers can complete their tasks by coaxing students to graduate happily and easily.

However, when students enter the society, they don't know advanced mathematics, Einstein and philosophy. Most of them can only work on the ground floor, carrying a plate and doing some manual work.

Therefore, the essence of happy education in Britain is actually a means for the elite in the leadership to maintain the stability of the whole social class.

In Britain, less study time and more relaxed study environment also mean that a child needs more self-discipline, more extra-curricular tutoring and more money to become a talent. In fact, western education has secretly completed social stratification through a relaxed process, and the children of civilians will always be civilians.

If the children of ordinary people really want to cross their own class in public schools, they can only become sports or entertainment stars by talent, which depends entirely on accidental factors.

Former British Prime Minister john major once pointed out that many children are determined by their family environment from birth, and the lack of educational opportunities makes it almost impossible for them to make changes. It is difficult to see people with working-class backgrounds in influential institutions, and social mobility is almost stagnant.

Fortunately, today, China is still dominated by public schools. Even key primary schools and middle schools pay more attention to scores and have no high tuition fees.

four

Nowadays, many people point out that our college entrance examination has many disadvantages, but one thing cannot be denied: all candidates are equal in the face of scores.

Compared with China, college entrance in the United States is mainly recommended.

There is a plot in the American movie Spider-Man 3: Iron Man suggested that Spider-Man should go to college in the future.

As the chairman of Stararms, Tony's recommendation certainly makes it easy for Spider to attend a key university like MIT. But without this relationship, does little Peter still have such a chance as a civilian hero? How many children from ordinary families can be recommended by powerful people in society?

In America, if you want to go to a famous school, either your family background is deep or you go to a private middle school.

In 20 16, Whitney Middle School ranked 19 in the national high school ranking and 1 in California. 156 graduates received 822 admission notices including 14 Ivy League schools and 250 first-class universities such as Stanford and Mali.

And the pressure of these elite children is no less than that of China, and there is a number in China-4. That is, "4 hours sleep, 4 cups of coffee, GPA 4.0"-if you want to get a perfect score of 4, sleep only 4 hours a day and drink 4 cups of coffee when you are sleepy.

On the surface, the difference between Chinese and western education is the difference of methods, but in essence it is the difference of educational function orientation.

Education in China is a ladder from the bottom up. As long as you get good grades, you can go to a prestigious school and change your destiny.

Western education is a hierarchical system. Mass education only provides basic and limited education. If you want to become an elite, you must buy education from the market, and those who can't afford it will naturally be eliminated.

Text transferred from China Weekly