AsianScientist (Jul. 9, 2011) – U.K. Education Secretary Michael Gove, speaking at the Royal Society last week, is advocating for compulsory math education up to the age of 18 for all U.K. students.
Gove described how the math skills of 15 year olds in the U.K. are more than two academic years behind that of 15 year olds in China, and that the U.K. has fallen in international ranks (from 4th to 16th in science, and from 8th to 28th in math) in the last decade.
At the undergraduate level, Gove said that over half of degrees in China, Singapore, and Japan are awarded in science and engineering subjects – compared to around a third in the U.K., E.U., and U.S. While the number of science and engineering degrees awarded in China more than trebled between 1998 and 2006, those awarded in the U.K. and the U.S. remained relatively flat, he said.
He said that Asia awards one in four of all engineering Ph.D.s – almost as many as the EU and the USA combined. The number of scientific papers published by Chinese researchers has almost quadrupled, compared to a three percent increase in the U.K., Gove said.
“This focus on STEM is more than just academic – it translates into tangible, real-world innovations. Between 1999 and 2009, the number of patent applications by Chinese residents increased by over 1,000 percent. In the UK, it fell by a quarter,” he said.
Gove cautioned against falling behind when Asian nations are investing in maths and science, and churning out the engineers, technicians, scientists and inventors who will shape tomorrow’s world.
“Asia has a massive trade surplus, holds the fate of the dollar in its hands, enjoys surging growth and is developing schools, technical colleges and universities which are dramatically outpacing our own,” said Gove.
Due to a National Curriculum Review by the government, some changes are already being implemented, Gove said, such as the English Baccalaureate – a performance measure for state schools recognizing achievement across core subjects, including math.
He also hopes to raise the standard of teaching in sciences and math, by attracting graduates with first class honors degrees with bursaries of up to £20,000.
In other measures, the U.K. Department for Education is working with the Li Ka Shing Foundation, a Hong Kong-based charitable organization, and the Stanford Research Institute on a pilot program to use computer programs to teach math, he said.
“Unless we dramatically improve our performance, the grim arithmetic of globalization will leave us all poorer,” said Gove.
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Source: Royal Society.
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