State provision of educational services in the UK
Tu ogólne, opinie i komentarze [from Oakland]:
British education operates on 3 levels:
schools (state; independent)
higher education
further/adult education
Schools are divided into 2 sectors:
state (maintained from public funds)
independent (privately financed) <- mainly in England
But there is no common educational organization for the whole country => England/Wales, Northern Ireland & Scotland have somewhat different school systems.
Further/adult & higher education generally have the same structure throughout Britain & are mostly state-funded.
Following devolution, the individual countries of the UK have greater degrees of self-government in educational matters at all these levels.
The quality of contemporary British state school education:
school inspectors have criticized standards in English, Mathematics, Technology & writing/reading skills. According to international comparisons, Britain doesn't rank highly for the quality of its secondary schools (defined by good results in national examinations) & that British 13-to-14-year-olds lag behind comparable pupils in most European countries. British pre-school & primary edu. have had a poor reputation in international terms, with a lack of high-quality nurses & low-qualified & underpaid staff & poor working conditions at primary school levels. In 2005 almost ½ of children were leaving state primary schools without the basic skills of reading, writing & arithmetic. It is argued that => (this results in) some functionally illiterate pupils passing on to the secondary schools. In 2000, 7 million adults (1/5) in Britain were functionally illiterate. It is argued that low standards of literacy & numeracy stem from decades of inadequate state school education.
But Britain leads the world in higher education [defined as the highest proportion (35.6 %) of university graduates aged 21], largely because of short (3-year) degree courses. Yet, there is criticism of: degree standards & the content of some university courses, varying performances between different universities & the declining quality of Ss entering univ. from secondary school.
In spite of these reports, British education shouldn't be seen in a wholly negative light. In 1997 the Labour gov promised to focus on the quality of education & to make it a life-long learning experience. Primary school literacy has improved (although not as much as expected). National school exam. & test results have improved in recent years (although some critics attribute this to lower standards). Many schools, teachers & Ss in the state (& independent) schools produce excellent work, as do some universities. It is the failing & underperforming state schools & universities which catch the media headlines. But state school edu. still has weaknesses & the public are dissatisfied with governmental progress in raising educational standards or creating an adequate structure of schools. Education appears consistently in opinion polls as a main concern of the British public in terms of its declining quality & its socializing influence.
A tu dogłębniej o systemie szkolnictwa w UK (also from “British Civilization'):
State education in the UK is free & compulsory for children aged 5-16. Schools are mainly mixed-sex (although some are single-sex). The vast majority of children (94%) receive free edu in state primary & secondary schools. But the state system is complicated by remnants of the 1944 Education Act & a diversity of school types throughout the country.
In England & Wales, the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) initiates policy. Today, state non-denominational schools are controlled by local education authorities (LEAs) & are called community schools; foundation schools include many former grant-maintained schools; and voluntary (faith) schools are divided into state-controlled & aided, with many being connected to specific religious groups.
The LEAs retain decentralized choice to organize school planning in their areas, with finance provided by central government. LEAs are responsible for : employing staff; admission procedures in non-denominational, community and voluntary controlled schools.
School governing bodies (composed of local citizens & parents) perform this role in foundation & voluntary aided (formerly grant maintained) schools. And, traditionally, academic organization of schools is left to headteachers & staff.
Following Conservative & Labour reforms headteachers now have greater financial responsibility for school budgets, management & academic organization; school governors in some schools have greater powers of decision-making; & parents have a greater voice in the actual running of schools & a legal right to choose a particular school for their children. These changes mean a shift from purely educational to management roles within state schools & involve increased burdens of time & administration. The LEAs have lost some of their earlier authority in some areas in the state school sector & may loose more under new Labour reforms.
The state school sector:
PRE-SCHOOL (NURSERY) (3-4)
|
PRIMARY (5-11) - infant school (5-7)
| - junior school (7-11)
SECONDARY (11-16/18) [= comprehensive/ grammar/ secondary modern/ technical school]
↑
(most Ss)
State schooling before the age of 5 is not compulsory & there is no requirement on the LEAs to provide such education; but more parents (mainly those at work) are seeking school provisions for young children & there is concern about the lack of opportunities. At present, 65% of children aged 3 and 4 go to nursery or pre-school (while others attend private playgroups). The Labour gov. wants to expand state pre-school edu & child care opportunities for working parents.
Most state secondary pupils in England & Wales attend comprehensives. Comprehensive school pupils are of mixed abilities & come from a variety of social backgrounds in the local area. There is still much argument about the quality & performance of the system. Some critics maintain that bright academic children suffer, although `setting' (formerly called `streaming') divides pupils into different ability & interest classes. => A form of `selection' continues within comprehensives, although not on entry. There are some very good comprehensive schools, which are not necessarily confined to the privileged & affluent areas; but there are also some very weak ones (which suffer from a variety of social, economic & educational problems & are usually associated with the deprived inner cities). Grammar schools achieve very good national exam. results & provide a disciplined academic background.
In the recent decade, to promote diversity in comprehensive schooling, gov created a system of state-funded, partly privately-sponsored specialist schools:
City Technology Colleges (specializing in science, technology & maths)
City Academies (they replace failing & underperforming schools; intended to revitalize deprived
areas)
Specialist Schools (concentrating on sciences, modern foreign lgs, sports or the arts)
Beacon Schools (singled out as best performing schools; to serve as examples for other schools)
Labour gov. also intends to create the nr of voluntary schools controlled by faiths (e.g. Church of England, Roman Catholic, Jewish, ...). It seems that selective criteria for entry to some schools (especially the specialist & faith schools) will be necessary. Critics argue that these movements to diversity & choice represent a withdrawal from monolithic comprehensive principles & the inevitable creation of a 2-level secondary school educational system, in which some state schools may become self-governing & independent (freed from LEAs control).
Scotland
Scotland has its own ancient educational system. Its state school system is comprehensive & non-selective. Children go from primary to secondary education at 12 and may continue until 18. The Scottish `public schools'= state (and not private) schools.
Northern Ireland
In NI the state schools are mostly divided on religious grounds (into Catholic & Protestant) & are often single-sex (yet, there are some steps towards co-educational [czyli mixed-sex] schools). The comprehensive system is not popular & a selective system (with an examination at 11) gives entrance to grammar school (40% of Ss attend it => w przeciwieństwie do Anglii i Walii, grammar schools są tu bardziej popularne niż comprehensives). Performances at gr.schools in NI are superior to their counterparts in England & Wales (although exam. results in the other secondary schools are poor).