APAC EDUCATION
Commenting on the announcement, Andrew Macdonald, IB
chief schools officer, said, “In Greater China and the rest of the Asia Pacific region, we continue to see steady growth in all IB programmes. They join the community of IB World Schools preparing students with the skills they will need to succeed at university and life beyond. Skills such as complex problem- solving, critical thinking and creativity, so valued by leading global employers, are at the heart of the IB programmes, teaching and learning.” In the Asia Pacific region, the IB supports more than 620
schools, between them offering over 900 programmes in 29 countries and territories. In China, there are more than 120 IB schools. According to research conducted by the IB, teachers and
administrators in five schools in China were confident that the Diploma Programme (DP) provided first-rate university preparation, thanks to its breadth and rigour. The quantitative portion of the study found that, between the years 2002 and 2012, over 70 per cent of IB graduates attended one of the world’s top 500 universities.
Bohunt Education Trust: Chinese connections It has been reported in the UK press that the Bohunt Education Trust (BET), an academy school group with three schools in south-east England, is to open and run a new school in Wenzhou, eastern China, by 2018 – a first for a state school in England. The group appears to be building on its connections with
China following its involvement in BBC documentary series Are Our Kids Tough Enough?, in which children from Bohunt School, in Liphook, were put through their paces by five teachers from China. Pupils were expected to meet the same standards as Chinese nationals, including working longer hours and fulfilling tougher academic expectations. BET chief executive Neil Strowger believes that the trust’s
involvement in the new Chinese school will benefit students in both the UK and China. “We’re delighted to be involved in this partnership,” he said, “which will allow us to build on our offering in the UK while bringing our outstanding educational model to students in China.”
Joint-venture schools Beijing and Shanghai are home to the highest concentration of international schools in China. Traditionally, however, these have not been available to Chinese locals. A new breed of school is emerging in response to demand
from wealthy local families seeking a traditional Western education. Sino-foreign cooperative schools are joint ventures
Yew Chung International School
between a Chinese owner and a foreign education company or school. They are restricted to secondary and higher education. The foreign organisation typically provides the teaching
and learning, while the Chinese partner supplies the land and financial investment. Both expatriate and Chinese students can attend these schools. One such school, the Nord Anglia Chinese International
School (NACIS), is due to open this September. “Our vision is to create a genuinely ambitious, multilingual school community,” said executive principal Robert Graves. Sarah Graves, director of studies, told the Global Times, “We have combined the best learning objectives from international curriculums with the Shanghai National Curriculum.” NACIS’s curriculum will build on Chinese values and the
core elements of the Shanghai National Curriculum, and will be taught in Putonghua and English. Sarah Graves believes that she has learnt a great deal from
working alongside a traditional Chinese style of education. “Perhaps Chinese students work a little bit harder after school and during lessons, and therefore perform better in exams. But I definitely think the Chinese mentality of being able to perform arithmetic without having to calculate, for example, is a strength. “So I believe that we have a lot to learn from the Shanghai
National Curriculum.” There is no doubting that there are significant challenges
facing families with school-age children relocating to China, but with these new developments, the situation for expatriates is evolving by the day.
For extensive coverage of education in China and throughout APAC, see our new Guide to International Education & Schools.
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