Chinese teachers are on their way to England in order to help raise the standard of education in English state schools.
As many as sixty teachers from high-performing schools in Shanghai will use Chinese teaching methods in maths instruction.
International league tables last year suggested that English 15-year-olds lagged some three years behind those in Shanghai and between one and two years behind pupils from Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea and Japan.
Recognising that maths skills are vital to the UK’s economic future, the Government has launched an £11m programme to “drive up standards.
The effort will involve on-the-job training for teachers in England as well as high-level master classes for students, one-to-one coaching for struggling pupils and challenging homework.
At the same time, 60 maths teachers will go to Shanghai to get additional training in Chinese methods.
The initiative has its critics. The National Union of Teachers said: “It is ridiculous to suggest that teachers brought in from China will have any more knowledge or expertise than teachers from other countries or indeed our own”.
But others believe there could be things to learn from China.
Elizabeth Truss, the Education Minister, said of her fact-finding visit to China last month, “We have some brilliant maths teachers in this country but what I saw in Shanghai – and other Chinese cities – has only strengthened my belief that we can learn from them. They have a can-do attitude to maths and I want us to match that, and their performance.”
