Unlike Kyrgyzstan, parents in the USA, United Kingdom, Finland and Malta don’t need to pay for education in public schools, but the quality of education depends on various factors.
School teachers in these countries are similar to Kyrgyz colleagues by heavy workloads and low pays.
United Kingdom: no one is willing to be a teacherSaule Mukhametrakhimova, mother of two daughters (grades 5&8), has lived in London for over 15 years
In the United Kingdom, they try to send their children to private schools, if they can, because they have fewer pupils in classrooms. Public schools have 25 pupils in a classroom, and overcrowded classrooms may have up to 30 pupils. In private schools, one group has 12-15 children. The problem of overcrowded public schools does exist, especially in big cities like London.
Private schools have more funds, which is reflected on the professional training of teachers, material and technical facilities in the premises. They also offer various extracurricular activities (in arts, music, sport), enrichment activities, and in this view private schools can surely provide more services than public schools do.
However, there are good public schools, whose alumni enter such prestigious universities as Oxford or Cambridge. But the problem is that there are only a few such schools, their reputation is known to all, and it’s not easy to get there.
In England, for example, you can go only to school in your school district. So if you don’t belong to the district, where a good public school is located, your child won’t be able to get there. That’s why some parents move from one area to another to be able to send a child to a specific school.
Grammar schools
There’s one more category of schools designed specifically for children with good potential and abilities, whose parents cannot afford to send their children to good schools, in order to provide these children with good education, and enable them to compete with their peers from private schools when entering prestigious universities. These are the so-called grammar schools. They were established specifically to eliminate somehow the difference between public and private schools, and every child has a chance to enter them if he/she passes a school entrance test. The education itself is free of charge.
In private schools, if you have money, your child would usually pass a test, even if he/she is not a straight A pupil. In grammar schools, they conduct rather difficult tests for pupils aged 7 and 11, so that only smartest pupils can enter them. However, parents often hire private tutors, send their children to preparatory courses in order to have them enter such schools, so smart pupils turn out to be the ones whose parents could afford to prepare them for the entrance test. So, sometimes the system seems to fail to meet the primary goal it was created for – improvement of social mobility in the community for children from low-income families. However, despite this shortcoming, it’s good to have such an opportunity and to have such schools.
Extra fees
There are no extra fees in public schools, I haven’t seen them. But in the UK you must buy a school uniform at the parent’s expenses. Also parents have to pay for their children visiting theatres, going on trips.
In the UK, there’s a third type of schools – Catholic schools. They are religious (school curriculum contains religion classes), but their educational process is supervised by the ministry of education. Churches can fund these schools and help them. Such schools can charge extra fees without coordination with the ministry of education – they can announce that a sports ground should be built or repairs should be made, so they ask money for this purpose. They ask persistently, yet it’s a parent’s choice whether to give money or not – no one would record it. Also, schools raise extra money for school needs (money for some repair works or charitable donations as assistance to the needy).
Teacher shortage
When I lived in Britain, I always heard about problems with employment of teachers. This is considered a very hard work, and financial remuneration does not meet the efforts they make.
Second, teachers work during the day, and they still have some work to do in the evening. They often complain they have a lot of paperwork to do. Children leave schools at 3 pm, and a teacher has to check tests, fill in various forms of every pupil – their progress, behaviour – a lot of this kind of work.
Third, public schools have exact science teacher shortage: chemistry, math, physics. There’s a shortage of such teachers because there was a trend in the society – pupils are reluctant to learn these subjects, they are getting prepared to get such popular majors as business, IT. So, the shortage emerged. Because of this problem, some schools have heavy workloads for such teachers – they can have many classes instead of two.
Teacher’s pay
London is a very expensive city. The average normal pay in the city is 26 to 30 thousand pounds per annum. In London, beginning teachers in public schools will have an annual pay of 22-24 thousand pounds, they will be paid extra money for living in the capital. However, it must be noted that teachers don’t have the lowest pay in the country. The difference is not that big as in Bishkek (average pay of a full-time teacher is around 150-200 dollars, although average expenses for a decent life are estimated around 500 dollars).
Teachers in private schools receive more – 30-35 thousand pounds per year.
The government from time to time announces programmes – if a teacher comes to teach to a public school in London, the government will assist him/her in getting cheaper home loans.
In general, no one in the UK is willing to be a teacher. Those who like working with children, share their knowledge, those who have a talent of teaching or are interested in it want to be teachers. So, there are cases when after a study at a prestigious university, some alumni start teaching English or music at school.
Finland: School Teachers Don’t Have Proper EducationKerstinKronvall, mother of three children and grandmother of six grandchildren
In Finland, almost all children go to public schools, with about 20-25 children in one class. If there are children with special needs in a class, there must not be more than 20 children in the class. This is usually connected with the fact that these children are more demanding than ordinary children. Usually there is a person who helps the teacher.
Education in Finland is free of charge. Transportation to schools is free if the family lives far away. All schools also provide a free lunch every day. Sometimes parents pay for a trip somewhere or to buy some equipment to the school playground.
Unfortunately being a teacher is not very attractive in Finland.
The salaries are not very high, not also very low. Teachers have no special benefits, only the long summer holidays. There is not enough teachers and in many schools there are people teaching, who do not have the proper education.
There are very few private schools in Finland, only some who are teaching according to the Waldorf pedagogy. This means that schools in Finland are really democratic and everyone gets a good education, not depending on how wealthy the parents are.
Malta: Everyone is satisfied with public schoolsA Kyrgyzstani living in Malta. Her child is a 4th grade pupil.
In Malta, children usually attend public schools. However, there are many private schools, many of which are Catholic. In the past, church-run schools believed to be the best, but now many people don’t think the same. Church-run schools have very harsh discipline, so the majority of people prefer sending their children to public schools. Public schools have become very popular and they work according to the educational standards.
Private schools have their niche, and rich people prefer to send their children there. I don’t see any big difference [in quality of education]. Of course, there are families with average income who send their children to private schools. But it is mostly caused by the fact that they want to protect their children from pupils with bad behaviour.
Public schools don’t have a problem of overcrowded classes. My son attends a public school, with 15 pupils in his class. Here the younger the pupil is, the less crowded their class will be.
If a child attends a public school, parents don’t have to pay extra money but for stationery and meal. Schools don’t cook meal inside their buildings. A parent provides a child with meal, which they can eat during a break. Schools don’t allow any sweets or beverages but water. If a child goes on a trip with school, parents pay for the trip.
I am ambivalent about the quality of teaching in public schools. I cannot say that all teachers are highly professional, but there are some who take their job formally, but this is my subjective opinion. There are many strong teachers here. It all depends on the school principal. Much attention is paid to children who have health issues, and those who are from troubled families.
School education – out of priority for the US government?Chinara, Arlington, Virginia(USA). Her 5-year-old child attends a kindergarten.
In the USA, the quality of teaching in a public school depends on the state and district. As far as I can see, the US government doesn’t allocate sufficient funds to public schools. There are good public schools in Virginia, but poor districts have teacher shortage, which influences the quality of education.
The budget of public schools depends on the budget of the state, as well as on the government reforms. For example, ex-president Obama wanted to allocate more money to public schools and colleges, yet the Congress didn’t approve it.
My kids attend public school in our district. We have chosen the district based on a good school. My son attends a kindergarten. Kindergartens accept children from the age of 5, his class has 18 children. One teacher and one assistant work in the classroom. Recently, we met his teacher and he wanted to know more about my son: what books he likes, how we encourage him, about his personality. This information is needed to find an approach to children. While we were talking to the teacher, his assistant tested my son to learn what he already knows. In November, we will again meet the teacher and learn about the process of education, any problems with learning or behaviour, what needs to be corrected at home.
You don’t have to pay tuition in public schools, but the school administration gives you a list of stationery at the beginning of the school year that every pupil should buy. School bus transportation is free of charge. A child can bring a lunch from home, or buy one at school. If a child is from a low-income family, the family can apply for free lunches.
Parents send their children to private schools only if public schools are not good. In the state of Hawaii, public schools are not good, so if a family can afford it, they send their children to private schools. If a child attends a private school, but the family doesn’t have enough money, parents can apply for a scholarship. In our district, public school has a very good reputation so parents choose public school regardless of their income.
Olena Hoffstetter, high school math teacher
If you send your child to a municipal school you don’t have to pay anything. The only thing you pay is an athletic fee 50-150 dollars for your child’s participation in sports team.
One of the reasons of bad school education in the United States is that no one is responsible for anything.
A teacher takes children for one year, and next year another teacher will teach them. In your schools, one teacher takes a class and teaches them in the next 5-6 years. If a teacher explains the subject ineffectively in the 7th grade, he will have problems with that subject in the next grades. However, in the US, after the school year finishes, you won’t deal with these children next year.
If compared to other occupations, school teacher salaries in the US are low. Some teachers can earn more if their state receives more tax revenues or if the standard of living in the city is higher; rural teachers earn less.
Authors: Timur Toktonaliev, and Zaure Mederkhanova; other journalists contributed to this report
This article was prepared as part of the Giving Voice, Driving Change – from the Borderland to the Steppes Project implemented with the financial support of the Foreign Ministry of Norway.
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