Research Work in Economics:

Different Educational Systems of Countries namely

Philippines China Thailand Australia United States of America (U.S.A.) India *Comparison, Sources, and Articles*
Submitted by: Vivian C. Abella Submitted to: Mdme. Andrea C. Meriel

Philippines-Educational System-An Overview Three government organizations handle education in the Philippines. These are the Department of Education, Culture, and Sports (DECS), the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA). In 1999, the Department of Education, Culture and Sports, which governs both public and private education in all levels, stated that its mission was "to provide quality basic education that is equitably accessible to all by the foundation for lifelong learning and service for the common good." The Department also stipulated its vision to "develop a highly competent, civic spirited, life-skilled, and God-loving Filipino youth who actively participate in and contribute towards the building of a humane, healthy and productive society." All these ambitions were embodied in the development strategy called "Philippines 2000." The academic year in the Philippines is patterned after its wet/cool and dry/hot seasons. The hottest months of the year are from March to May, thus making them the "summer break." The wet season starts in June, which also marks the beginning of the academic school year. Beginning 1993, DECS increased the number of school days from 185 to 200. The school year ends during the first few weeks of March. The Philippines, a Catholic country, has a two- to three-week break during Christmas in December and a four- to five-day break at the start of November to celebrate the Day of the Saints and the Day of the Dead. The language of instruction has been a much debated topic. For a country dispersed over 7,107 islands, with 11 languages and 87 dialects, colonized by Spain for more than 300 years, and educated by the Americans, the decision to pick a particular language of instruction has been very controversial. The languages used for instruction have switched from Spanish to Tagalog, to English to the local vernacular, including some Chinese languages, and Arabic, which is used in the southern part of the country. Primary and secondary schools are taught from Monday to Friday, starting at 7:30 A.M. The school day begins with a flag raising, national anthem, and pledge of allegiance. Students usually have an hour for lunch. School cafeterias are mostly non-existent and those that exist are largely inadequate. Students either go home for lunch or pack their lunch. Some parents, usually mothers, come to school to bring warm lunch for their children. Classes resume for the afternoon, until about 4:30 to 5:00 p.m. In some areas, due to lack of facilities, certain schools are forced to have double shifts, minimizing the hours children spend in school. Access has been a problem for certain sectors of the population and DECS has made this the number one priority. In the secondary level for 1965-1966, approximately 1.17 million students were enrolled with 62.3 percent in the private sector. In 1987-1988, there were a total of 3.49 million students enrolled, 40.8 percent of whom were in private schools. By 1999-2000 there was an overall total of 5.1 million students, with 24 percent in private schools. Higher education in the Philippines is strongly in the private sector. Most bachelor degrees are for four years. Students are usually from 17 to 20 years old. In 1985, the private sector of higher education was close to 80 percent of the student population. Of these institutions one-third are considered non-profit, while two-thirds function for monetary gain. This has led to the reputation of certain schools as "diploma mills" and to the more serious problem of producing unqualified, unemployed, and underemployed graduates. Technology use is starting to gain momentum in the overall education of the Philippines. In 1999, there were 93 Internet Service Providers (ISP) in the country. By the beginning of 2001, the participation of nongovernmental organizations and the private sector in education was

evident with the donation of 1,000 personal computers for use during school year 2001-2002 in 1,000 public high schools of 16 regions. The program, called One Thousand PCs, has four major components, namely: curriculum development with the creation of a one year course on computer education as a specialization in entrepreneurship; teacher training for recipient schools; courseware development through the creation of Information Technology materials; and the purchase of hardware from the private sector through the Adopt-A-School Program. The Department of Trade and Industry chaired this project. Curricular development is under the jurisdiction of the DECS. Authority slowly trickled down to the municipal/local levels as the system shifted to decentralize decision-making and empower local schools. Despite these efforts, much of the important decisions, such as the purchase of all public school textbooks, are done by DECS. Source :<a href="http://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/1199/PhilippinesEDUCATIONAL-SYSTEM-AN-OVERVIEW.html">Philippines - Educational System an Overview</a> China-Educational System-An overview China has one of the world's largest (in terms of numbers of students) educational systems: a total of approximately 289,859,000 students were enrolled in 1998. Sixty-seven percent of the students were in primary and junior secondary schools, grades one through nine (China Statistical Yearbook). (Unfortunately though, statistics issued by the Chinese government should be used with caution; they best represent trends or the general picture.) These nine grades constitute China's formal basic education. Compulsory education has been very successful at the primary level (first through sixth grades), but not as impressive at the junior secondary level (seventh through ninth grades). Higher education is merit-based and extremely competitive in China. The overall enrollment in 1998 was 3,409,000 in the formal higher education sector (China Statistical Yearbook 1999) and 74,967,300 in the nonformal sector (China Statistical Yearbook 1999). On average, formal higher education institutions admit about 50 percent of the graduates of general senior secondary schools (Agelasto & Adamson 1998). Illiteracy in China still poses a big challenge. Of those ages 15 and older, 16.78 percent of Chinese know fewer than the 1,500 characters needed for basic literacy. Illiterate male Chinese make up 9.01 percent of the total male population over age 15, while illiterate female Chinese account for 22.61 percent of the total female population over age 15 (China Statistical Yearbook 1999). The Compulsory Education Law of 1986 mandates six years for primary education and three years of middle school. Compulsory education serves two purposes: to prepare students for employment and to enable them to lay a solid foundation for entering schools of higher level. Although the law says the nine-year compulsory education should be free for all children, schools, often driven by economic necessity, ask parents to pay many fees, such as examination paper fees, school construction fees, water fees, and after-school coaching fees. Sometimes due to the high fees charged by schools, rural parents have to pull their children out of school (Lin 1999). The academic year in China is comprised of a fall semester and a spring semester. Students have classes five days a week with much homework assigned over the weekend. The school year extends from September to July. The teaching language is Putonghua, (Mandarin Chinese). Occasionally, local dialects are used as the teaching language in remote minority areas; however,

the teaching of Mandarin Chinese is strictly enforced and is mostly used alongside local minority languages. The new orientation of the Chinese economy in the 1980s required many skilled and trained laborers. Private education proved to be a pragmatic solution to meet the challenges of China's burgeoning market economy. Various nongovernmental schools became established in urban areas. They emphasized vocational training and offered courses such as foreign languages, accounting, bookkeeping, home economics, architecture, tailoring, and industrial management. By 1998, the total enrollment in nonformal institutions had reached 74,967,300 students (China Statistical Yearbook 1999). In 1987 and 1988, the State Education Commission issued a series of documents, including the Provisional Regulations Concerning Educational Institutions Run by Social Forces and Provisional Regulations on the Finance of Educational Institutions Run by Social Forces. With these documents, the government allowed state-owned enterprises and institutions, the democratic parties, popular organizations, economic collectives, and learned societies to set up educational institutions. Private Citizens were also allowed to do so with special permission from the educational office at various levels of the government. Foreigners, overseas Chinese, educators, and businessmen from Hong Kong and Taiwan were invited as well. The first pre-college private school since the economic reforms was Guangya School in Dujiangyan, Sichuan Province. It opened in June 1992 by Qing Guangya. Three years later there were 20,780 private kindergartens, 3,159 private primary and secondary schools, and 672 private vocational and technical schools. In addition, there were 12,230 private colleges with an average enrolment of 2,400 students. Generally, there have been three types of private schools developed since the 1980s in terms of their funding and operation. The first type was founded and controlled by private investors, including former educators and businessmen. The second type of private schools was set up by Chinese individuals or business firms in collaboration with foreign investors. The third type included those founded and operated by Chinese enterprises and institutions in the tradition of the minban school, which are popularly-run schools supported by village funds in rural areas. The use of instructional technology in China's classrooms remains inadequate. Many schools, particularly in rural area, still rely on blackboard and chalk as their major instructional media. Since the economic reforms in the 1980s, some schools in the cities have acquired limited audiovisual resources. Both key high schools and universities have the advantage of being equipped first due to funding priority from the state. Private schools are better equipped than most public schools due to their generous donors, usually overseas Chinese or the newly rich entrepreneurs. As for Internet access in classrooms, Chinese schools are behind most advanced Western countries. Only very few researchers at key universities, supported by outside funding, have unlimited access to Internet resources. Due to both high cost and the fear of influx of undesired information, the Chinese government hesitates to make the Internet a valuable teaching tool on campuses. In using both radio and television as instructional media to provide educational opportunities for Chinese mass, however, China is ahead of many countries in the world. Upon passing all required tests in a particular field, students can receive diplomas from the universities. The welldeveloped network presents lectures and classes in all major cities and regions throughout China. By presenting lectures of top experts in a given field, these radio and television universities provide educational opportunities to a large viewing audience who cannot attend formal college. Source :<a href="http://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/271/China-EDUCATIONALSYSTEM-OVERVIEW.html">China - Educational Systemoverview</a>

United States of America-Educational System-Overview Free & Compulsory Education: After the American Revolution, pro-education spokespersons presented strong views on the best way to form and preserve the character of its citizenry through education. Already there was awareness that a quality education had a price, just as did any other quality services. Pennsylvania's state constitution made provisions for teachers in public schools to be paid by the state, a practice emulated by other states as it became apparent that children who could not afford to pay for schooling clearly needed the state to provide free schools. Eventually states passed provisions to compel children to attend schools. But just as in colonial days, when children were apprenticed to tradesman at young ages, during the nineteenth century textile manufacturers, packing plants, and mining outfits hired children to perform menial jobs. It would be the twentieth century before enforcement standards were sufficient to ensure full compliance. Age Limits: All states have a minimum age for allowing a child to begin formal education, but there is no single national standard as to what the birth-month cut-off should be. The majority of states and the District of Columbia have state-wide birth dates for entering five-year olds that all districts must conform to as a kindergarten entrance policy requirement. In 2001 the state law in North Dakota set seven as the entrance age, but that law may be lowered by state legislation. Other exceptions are Colorado, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania; individual school districts set the policy in those five states. All states have set a minimum dropout age somewhere between 14 and 18, with the most common age requirement being 16 (in 36 states). Academic Year: Plans by several school districts to lengthen the academic year by four or five days have met with angry protests by students. The combination of increasingly more complex subject matter, state testing requirements, and public perceptions regarding school quality has led critics and supporters of education alike to advocate more school days in the annual calendar. Most commonly, school boards propose the increases in an attempt to raise student performance marks on standardized tests. One such protest in March 2001 occurred at Kellam High School in Virginia Beach, Virginia, after the school board extended the calendar from 180 to 185 days. Every now and then a school board comes into the news when it considers the notion of extending the school year through the summer. During the twenty-first century, the debate over whether the school year for elementary and secondary students should be extended to 11 or 12 months will be waged even more vigorously. Few schools have actually adopted such a schedule: parents argue that the change would disrupt their family lives; teachers argue that their workload is already burdensome, and students complain that their opportunity to earn money for college would be jeopardized without the chance to work summer jobs. Employers that depend on students also object to the proposal. Enrolment: Record enrolments most definitely will be recorded during the twenty-first century. During the 1990s, the U.S. population grew by nearly 25 million people, surpassing every decade but one and guaranteeing maximum use of schools for years to come. During the 1950s, 28 million babies were born, the largest number of births in a single 10-year period recorded up to the year 2000. Beginning in 1951, school children began enrolling in kindergartens and first grade in numbers that were unprecedented. The dramatic rise would, in 1960, begin to have an effect on secondary schools, followed by an explosion in college enrolments starting in 1964. The number of students coming into these schools at every level was due to the popularly named Baby Boom, which refers to the skyrocketing increase in births after World War II from 1946 to 1964. Enrolment in elementary and secondary schools peaked in 1971, according to the Digest of Education Statistics. As increasing numbers of U.S. parents divorced, enrolments of elementary and high school students also declined from 1971 to 1984.By 2005, the Department of Education

anticipates a levelling off of enrolment in the total number of elementary and secondary students, with decreases seen between 2005 and 2010, although projections for enrolment through 2006 suggest that numbers of secondary school students will reach an all-time high before dropping. Enrolments in elementary school are expected to stay high but somewhat more constant until 2009. The decrease in growth reflects a lower annual birth rate between 1991 and 1997. Private School Tuition: According to the latest figures posted by the federal government, private schools charged an average tuition of $3,116 in 1993-1994. Parochial school tuition was significantly lower than that of non-sectarian schools. Catholic schools charged $2,178 on Average; schools with other religious affiliations charged $2,915 on average. Non-sectarian private schools charged an average tuition of $6,631. Immigration & Bilingual Education: U.S. residents aged five years and older who either speak no English or have a small grasp of the language are increasing in number, presenting additional challenges to teachers in the classroom. Many immigrants came to the United States from countries where English was not the official language and they have moved into communities where proximity to family or friends has offered a compelling reason for learning a new language. Preliminary reports from Census 2000 indicate that figures will even be higher for the number of language minorities than is available in the 1990 data, the latest information posted by the government on a state-by-state basis. Since the 1970 Census, numbers of Asian and Hispanic immigrants have increased. Large cities show significant additions of Hispanic populations, particularly Texas cities such as San Antonio, where Hispanic residents have been the dominant culture numerically since 1990. The Lewis Mumford Center for Comparative and Urban and Regional Research reports that Hispanic residents doubled in Austin, Dallas, and Forth Worth, while Houston reported an 80 percent increase since 1990. On the East Coast, Asians grew in similar large populations by 70 percent in Newark and Jersey City, New Jersey. Asians and Hispanics reported increases of at least 50 percent in large cities such as Indianapolis, Milwaukee, New Orleans, Norfolk-Virginia Beach-Newport News, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh.The Bilingual Education Act of 1967 was an attempt by the federal government to assist, in particular, school districts that found themselves with a growing influx of youngsters who were primarily speakers of Spanish or another language such as Chinese. The Office of Bilingual Education and Minority Language Affairs intends to develop linguistically and culturally diverse students under the auspices of the federal Department of Education. Bilingual education most commonly has both native Spanish and native English speakers taking part in an education program wherein part of a day's school instruction is given in English and part in Spanish or another language. Technology in Education: While computers are found in an increasing number of schools, and students themselves report increasing familiarity with the Internet, the majority of teachers in a 2001 survey report low levels of Internet usage. Nearly 87 percent of teachers surveyed said they were acquainted with the Internet, but only 40 percent used the Internet 30 minutes or more daily for educational purposes, according to Net Day, a non-profit education group that assists teachers with technology. Outside the schools, thanks to home and library computers, 45 percent of America's 30 million children have access to the Internet, according to a Pew Internet & American Life Project study released in February 2001. Almost three-quarters of teens aged 12 to 17 can access the Internet, while less than 1 in 3 beneath the age of 12 can do so. Mathematics & Science Teaching: The National Science Foundation takes a visible role in stressing reforms and accomplishments in U.S. schools from kindergarten through graduate education. NSF's Division of Elementary, Secondary, and Informal Education provides one of

the best sources for K-12 grant opportunities and general information on science education for teachers. Science and math education have been priorities of numerous presidential administrations, but while there has been slow progress over time, in the late twentieth century the issue acquired more urgency. In spite of administration concerns, U.S. student performances overall continued at disappointing levels on national tests, according to the National Centre for Education Statistics, although the NCES stresses that some U.S. youngsters do post scores equal to those of any other nation. Students with Disabilities: In 1968, the Handicapped Children's Early Education Program started as a pilot program to provide quality special education and other services to disabled children from birth through the third grade. Congress saw a need for providing families with these early intervention programs to assist children with disabilities and to provide their caregivers with information specific to their educational needs. The program began with 24 demonstration projects in 1968. Over the years, the program was greatly expanded to include model outreach projects, early intervention research disbursement, experimental projects, and inservice training projects, among other innovations. In 1990 the organization changed its name to the Early Education Program for Children with Disabilities (EEPCD).Since 1980, the number of students enrolled in programs for disabled children has slowly grown. About 10 percent of the school population fell under the category of disabled during the 1980-1981 school year, according to government figures. That number increased to 13 percent during the 1997-1998 school year. The fastest growing area is that segment of the population termed learning disabled. The population of learning disabled children was only four percent in 1980-1981, but it had risen two points to six percent in 1997-1998. Curriculum & Educational Reform: The incorporation in 1906 of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching (founded in 1905 by magnate and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie) is the starting point for curriculum development in the twentieth century. This foundation became integral in the formation of standards and a standardized curriculum for all U.S. schools, as well as eventually providing a structured, unbiased means to assess the quality of educational institutions. The foundation set the standard of a single credit for courses taken in secondary schools, a recommendation met with opposition by critics who believed that certain science, mathematics, and humanities courses have more educational value than some courses perceived to be easier to pass. The NEA further fine-tuned reform when it defined core subjects required for graduation, as well as the minimum number of credits required by a student seeking a diploma (including requirements in mathematics and English). After studying secondary schools considered among the best in the United States, researchers Fred Newmann, director of The Centre on Organization and Restructuring of Schools, and G. G. Wehlage identified five characteristics connected to optimal instruction:

Schools emphasize higher-order thinking to combine facts and ideas and then to come up with conclusions and interpretations of the material. Students are encouraged to be problem solvers with a broad depth of knowledge and to understand the core ideas of various disciplines, as well as to see the ways various disciplines connect. Students apply their knowledge in ways that would prove useful in business, the military, personal investments, or recreation choices outside the classroom's walls. Students are encouraged to develop rhetorical skills, demonstrating that they can communicate knowledge of a subject and engage listeners in a meaningful way. In effect, they learn from their peers and vice versa. The classroom should provide a supportive, respectful environment where students can take intellectual risks and learn in an environment highly conducive to meeting the

educational needs of all. Rather than deposit slower learners in remedial programs, the educators suggest that students may achieve better if placed in challenging environments. "A Nation at Risk" coincided with poor performances by American youth on test scores in mathematics, science, and other skill areas when compared to youths in some other countries, as well as complaints from the military and business over the academic ineptitude of recruits and new workers. Presidents from Reagan through George W. Bush have made education reform the focus of campaign rhetoric, and have, during their respective administrations, pushed hard for high achievement rankings equal to or superior to results produced in the classrooms of other nations. The fact that schools blessed with resources for their relatively privileged students tend to achieve far better test results than do schools whose resources are marginal or deficient promises to contribute to a long and sometimes acrimonious debate over standards and testing. Textbooks: Not until nearly 1690 did any sort of a uniform schoolbook appear that targeted knowledge specifically for maturing minds. The illustrated New England Primer appeared around or before 1690, offering religious instruction and the way to virtue in rhyming verse with couplets and epigrams, along the lines of "Time cuts down all, both great and small. "During the twenty-first century, by contrast, educators are faced with organized protests to textbook selections. Protests since 1990 have been directed against textbooks said to contain materials that are perceived to be any of the following: anti-Christian, anti-American, or representative of socalled "New Age" secular humanism. From Virginia to California, parents occasionally inform schools that they want teachers to send home parental permission slips if an assigned novel or collection of stories has one or more scenes containing sexual situations. Other textbook conflicts have arisen over matters of science, particularly how scientific theories of evolution are presented, and miscellaneous stories or plays included in literature anthologies. In one extreme case, a Florida principal authorized cutting out a play about AIDS from a textbook. The Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) advises that students in elementary and secondary school will read some 32,000 pages in textbooks before graduation. ERIC recommends that state authorities involved in the selection process of adopting textbooks should be aware that textbooks in the past have excluded the achievements of women and minorities, as well as sometimes satisfying various political agendas. Women, for example, were depicted in these textbooks in dependent, domestic roles. The representation of women and minorities too often was limited to the first in particular fields such as aviation or law, rather than putting emphasis on contributions made cooperatively by women and men of all races in every aspect of American life, such as the settling of the frontier. Less controversial is the selection process for textbooks purchased by students for college classes. In many cases, academic freedom allows instructors to choose the texts they believe will best prepare their students to understand course objectives. In a few cases, particularly where frequently offered courses are taught by adjunct or part-time instructors, a department head or appointed committee may choose the books. Foreign Influences on Educational System: From primary to tertiary education, the strongest foreign influence on the American educational system has come from Germany. The concept of a kindergarten is a German educational innovation that has been even more successful in the United States than in its country of origin. Kindergartens were popularized in America by educators Elizabeth Peabody; William T. Harris, a St. Louis educator who became U.S. Commissioner of Education (1889-1906); and Margarethe Schurz, wife of Carl Schurz, a German migr who was U.S. Secretary of the Interior and a Civil War general. Eventually, all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia adopted kindergarten programs. Mrs. Schurz learned about the operation of kindergartens and their theory directly from Friedrich Froebel, the German educator credited with the establishments of kindergarten programs in Germany. However, kindergartens met with opposition both here and in Germany, and it was not until after 1920 that

the United States saw a great leap in nationwide acceptance of kindergartens as ordinary additions to school districts. In higher education, two German innovations adopted here were the conferring of Ph.D. degrees and the German concept of scholarly research. Until the late nineteenth century, American scholars wishing to obtain additional knowledge, conduct research, and acquire the status of a doctoral degree traveled to German institutions of higher learning to do the necessary work needed to attain the highest level of scholarly attainment. In time, rightly or wrongly, American institutions began to equate the number of doctorates earned by its faculty with academic excellence. Various systems of rating universities invariably publish a ranking of faculty with the percentage of those with Ph.Ds.American institutions in time tended to replicate German models for conducting research by raising research money from private industry and soliciting large gifts from benefactorscreating endowments to regulate these fundsand obtaining government funding. Individual professors and graduate departments soon found how expensive it was to conduct research without well-planned sources of financing from government or private sources. In time sophisticated guidelines were written to develop ethical policies dealing with extremely complex issues that arose from accepting large sums of money from sources outside the universities. Source: <a href="http://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/1629/United-StatesEDUCATIONAL-SYSTEM-OVERVIEW.html">United States - Educational System overview</a> Thailand-Educational System-Overview Thailand has a large and complex educational system. Basically, the system is a 6-3-3 one followed by a wide variety of postsecondary options. Public preschools are under the control of the Ministry of Education or Interior and serve children aged three to five. Private preschools serving the same age group are under the supervision of the Private Education Commission. Public primary schools accommodate children from the ages of 6 to 11 and are supervised by the Ministries of Education, Interior, and local municipalities. Private primary schools are under the control of the Private Education Commission. Secondary schools educate children between the ages of 12 to 17 and overseen by the Ministry of Education and local municipalities in the public sector and by the Private Education Commission in private schools. Students between the ages of 14 to 17 who are seeking admission to selective universities or students seeking admission to highly selective schools attend private coaching schools. There are also private international schools teaching 5-to 18-year-olds under the supervision of the Private Education Commission. Selective public universities (undergraduate programs) teach 18- to 21year-olds and are under the supervision of the Ministry of University Affairs. Selective public universities, offering graduate masters and doctoral programs are supervised by the Ministry of University Affairs. The "open universities" (both open admissions and open distance) serve the over 18 working population and are overseen by the Ministry of University Affairs. There are 44,903 pre-primary schools (6,619 private) in Thailand. The number of public primary schools and lower secondary is 31,129. Public lower and upper secondary schools number 2,660. There are 409 public vocational schools (upper secondary and postsecondary-certificate levels), 42 international schools and colleges, 36 Rajabhat Institutes, 50 Rajamangala Institutes of Technology, 13 special science schools, 13 colleges of physical education, 6 sports schools, 15 colleges of fine arts, 2 Buddhist universities, 11 original public selective universities, 8 recent new public universities, 2 public open universities, and 49 private universities in Thailand. In addition to these genres of education supervised by the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Interior, and Ministry of University Affairs, a number of other ministries and agencies administer

various kinds of schools and academic institutions. For example, the Ministry of Public Health administers nursing colleges, public health colleges, and a college of medical technology and public health. The Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives administers an irrigation college, a veterinary school, and a cooperative school. Seven other ministries and bodies administer schools and colleges of various types. Source: <a href="http://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/1526/ThailandEDUCATIONAL-SYSTEM-OVERVIEW.html">Thailand - Educational System overview</a> India-Educational System-Overview India contains about 888,000 educational institutions with an enrolment of about 179 million students. The elementary education system in India is the second largest in the world, with 149.4 million children of 6-14 years enrolled (about 82 percent of the children in that age group) and 2.9 million teachers. As a democracy, India is committed in principle to compulsory and free education for all its people with special provisions for its underprivileged and traditionally oppressed people. The reality, however, is far from the desired outcome. Poverty and cultural deprivation leave millions of young minds without education. On the contrary, a very sophisticated infrastructure of elitist education modelled after the British private schools exist for the children of rich and influential people who continue to dominate the society in different sectors. Among the residential boarding schools designed exclusively for the elite are The Lawrence School, Lovedale; Kodaikanal International School, Kodaikanal; Rishi Valley School, Chittor; Montford Anglo Indian Boys School, Yercaud; Chinmaya International Residential School, Coimbatore; United World College, Pune; Dow Hill School, Kurseong; St. Paul's School, Darjeeling; The Lawrence School, Sanawar; Mayo College, Ajmer; Welham Girls' High School, Dehradun; and Colvin Tallukedar School, Lucknow. Source: <a href="http://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/651/India-EDUCATIONALSYSTEM-OVERVIEW.html">India - Educational Systemoverview</a> Australia-Educational System-Overview Education is compulsory in all states of Australia from K-10 (between the ages 5 to 15). Effectively, almost all Australian citizens have access to elementary and junior educational provision, under state legislation in the six states (New South, Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia, Queensland, and Tasmania) and in the Australian Capital Territory, while citizens in the Northern Territory obtain education under Federal funding provisions channelled through the Northern Territory administration. Education is in English, though most primary schools now have access to community language programs. Italian, Japanese, and Spanish are among the most common in state schools, French and German in several of the international language schools in the capital cities, and indigenous languages in Aboriginal schools, particularly in Western Australia, northern Queensland, and the Northern Territory. Most states, along the lines of a resurgent return to basic policies operate basic skills tests in elementary schools (called primary or public schools in most states). In New South Wales, basic skills tests are run for year 3 and year 5 students. Access to state selective schools is possible in some states through special examination, and there are regular examinations for entry on scholarship to the larger private schools. Internal assessment governs progress through years 7 through 9, and in year 10, there is the equivalent of New South Wale's school certificate offered in most states as a entry point into technical education, apprenticeships, and other vocational training alternatives. Year 12 ends with a higher leaving certificate examinationin New South

Wales called the Higher School Certificate, in Victoria the VCE, and in Queensland the Core Skills Test. The Academic Year runs from the end of January (mid-summer in Australia) across 4 terms, ending towards the middle or latter end of December, allowing for a 5 to 6 week holiday in what are the hot months in most Australian states. Curriculum in most states is set by the State departments of Education, against which (through the system of public examinations at the end of year 10 and year 12) inspectors also assess registration requirements in privately run schools. The shaping influences on Australian education have been distance and time. Distance, because it was distance that has dictated the economics and socio-cultural development of the country. Time, as both the newness of the country and the time to travel for ideas, has been critical in the formation of education policy and thought. Distance and time, significantly, are also the key axes underlying the processes of globalization which are driving educational agendas in Australia. Despite missionary practice that emphasized bible translation and grammar/vocabulary construction, which has since become a major source for the revival of Aboriginal languages and cultures, and high level recommendations towards bilingual education in the early 1960s, English remained the primary language of instruction for Aboriginal students until 1973. Effectively, this was part of a program of assimilation that was extended by the Australian government to all minority groups in Australia until the promulgation of official multiculturalism in November 1972. The extension of linguistic revivals, teaching in the primary language of students, support for the training of Aboriginal people as teachers, and national organization of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders has greatly assisted in shifting education away from the sort of identity stripping, residential institutions that were the norm for Aboriginal education from the foundation of the Native Institution under Lachlan Macquarie in 1815. A scholar noted: Primary education in South Australia extends from pre-year 1 to year 7, while the south eastern states (New South Wales, Victoria, and Tasmania), and run from pre-year 1 to year 6. Secondary education in all states runs to year 12, with differing mechanisms for matriculation to university. Different examinations are used in Victoria and New South Wales. The development of national standards is increasingly putting pressure on these regional variations and increasing cooperation between states at all levels. In August 1998, there were 9,587 schools enrolling 3,198,655 (61 percent K-6) students, 6,998 (73 percent) of which were government schools. In the face of a slight decline in the number of government schools (1995-1998), the non-government sector continues to grow rapidly (1 to 3 percent per triennium), particularly in the low-fee paying Christian school sector, as much as 8 percent per year (Long 1996). These trends reflect the general drift in Australian society towards private delivery and downsizing; a retreat by sub-cultures from the public sphere in the face of growing social diversity. The impact of parental fears about social trends such as violence, drugs in schools, and retention of traditional values, can be seen by the fact that such schools are strongest in years 8-10, but follow patterns of retention in government schools in K-6. The nearly 100,000 indigenous students enrolled in K-12 are, due to issues of isolation and the inability to mobilize private funding, much more reliant on government funded schools. Most private school growth for K-12 has occurred in rapid growth, lower-to-middle-class outer suburban areas of Australia's major cities. Their ability to draw on constituency support in addition to government per capita funding of student institutions has meant that nongovernment schools have better staff-student ratios than government schools, particularly in the wealthier Anglican schools sector. Building growth has not increased at the same rate as population growth, leaving many low-fee paying private schools to struggle with accommodation issues.

Higher Education was attempted a number of times through the early history of the various colonies. The Australian College in New South Wales, for instance, was meant to combine K-12 activities with the seeds of future clergy training for the Presbyterian Church. All such institutions failed, however, until the foundation of the University of Sydney in 1852on deliberately non-sectarian lines. The University of Melbourne followed in 1853, Tasmania (in Hobart) in 1893, Adelaide (established by Act of Parliament in 1874), and Queensland in 1909 (Barcan 1980). Enrolment figures tended to follow population growth and decline and the policy function of the universities in their home colonies/states. Prior to World War II, universities in Australia tended to be for the children of the professional classes. This status changed radically after World War II with the need to retrain hundreds of thousands of Australian soldiers for civilian life. Postwar migration added additional pressure, leading to an efflorescence of new institutions (Monash, Macquarie, La Trobe, Murdoch, and Flinders), mostly in the suburbs. By the 1970s, universities had become a major tool for the Australian government that was attempting to redirect national effort away from commodities production and trading towards value added industries and (from the 1980s) the information industries revolutionizing large parts of Asia. Encouraging Australian students into those institutions was a more difficult task, given the lack of a generalized learning culture and the lack of obvious career paths for many of the courses offered. By March 1998, there were 671,853 students in higher education courses in Australia (about 3.7 percent of the population), of which 72,183 (or 10.0 percent of the total) were classed as overseas students (up from 21,000 in 1989, 5 percent of the total). Some 359,225 of these students were aged 16 to 24, representing 14 percent of the population group. The vast number of the new growth among these students went into business, economics, computer sciences, media, and health. There was a relative decline in numbers going into straight humanities and education subjects. The growth in both the business disciplines and in the proportion of non-resident students, as well as the consolidation of higher education institutions through the 1980s, marked the shift of education from its position as a core community service to a position as a growing export industry that was competing in the global market. Since 1995, all registered Australian tertiary institutions have been required to tailor their curricula according to the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF), a normative system dictating standard outcomes rather than content. The AQF replaced the Register of Australian Tertiary Education (operative since 1990). This has meant that the vocational education and training (VET) system (offering diplomas from Certificate 1 to Advanced Diploma) articulates from upper school education and to the university system, which offer knowledge based baccalaureate and higher degrees, but overlap with VET in offering diplomas and Advanced Diplomas in a unified system. It is possible to transfer credit and recognition of prior learning throughout the tertiary system. The integration of previously separate spheres of education within relatively new and artificial standards-based structures raises two major challenges to education: "The first of these is 'What counts as worthwhile learning?' The second question is 'What may be accepted to confirm that such learning has occurred?' Both of these questions and the issues they raise . . . must reignite a serious consideration by teacher education faculties of what actually constitutes knowledge." (Taylor and Clemans 2000) Through the 1980s, most states introduced legislation restricting use of the terms like university or degree to those recognized by the state and falling within the AQF. With state universities, this has not been an issue, since those institutions are largely self-accrediting. Considerable tension developed over the recognition of private providers under the various state Acts. There is not an education equivalent to Australian university criteria because there is so

much variation in quality and approach between institutions. A provider does not have substantial credit if endorsed in one state and refused standing in another because of Acts that vary. Considerable work has gone into smoothing out irregularities in the system, and making the AQF genuinely national in scope. Other quality controls are imposed through the Commonwealth's Trade Practices Act 1974. State/Territory fair trading legislation helps protect the quality of higher education. Source: <a href="http://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/77/AustraliaEDUCATIONAL-SYSTEM-OVERVIEW.html">Australia - Educational System overview</a> NEWS ARTICLES AUSTRALIA Schools must get online to protect kids from anti-social networking
Source: http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/opinion/schools-must-get-online-to-protect-kidsfrom-anti-social-networking/story-e6frezz0-1226096310252

DO you want to lose 10 pounds of ugly fat? Cut off your head slut!" the 14-year-old girl says to her classmate. "Hahaha I love this," another classmate adds. Cyber bullying in Australian schools is spiralling out of control. We are at risk of losing a generation of young Australians to an online culture of "anything goes" with no concern for the welfare of others.A social media "module" should be introduced into the national curriculum urgently.The lack of adequate social media education is glaringly obvious as each week brings a new social media "scandal". A Facebook party with 250,000 guests or a comment that has caused offence are now predictable rather than out of the ordinary.Who is teaching the children of the digital age about cyber safety and how to appropriately share information through social networking sites? In short, no one.A simple Facebook search will reveal just how prevalent bullying, slander, gossip and outright defamation is online. Importantly, most online bullying occurs in open forums and pages so other users can easily participate and engage in siege-like harassment.Federal and state governments have attempted to address cyber safety issues with awareness programs aimed at increasing students' and parents' understanding of the medium. While these initiatives ought to be welcomed, their implementation has been piecemeal, failing to target the root causes of cyber bullying and unmatched by a deeper understanding of the technology that drives it. Moreover, almost all of the programs have been opt-in with no real incentive for schools or parents to get on board.By teaching social networking skills and awareness in schools, students will be equipped with the necessary skills to identify and manage online risks as they arise. Classes should make use of scenario-based exercises that address cyber bullying, internet safety, privacy and online etiquette.Scenarios would not simply be confined to the avoidance of embarrassing photos or crude language but the danger posed by anonymous third parties.Armed with the knowledge that their teachers are competent in using social media, students would be less likely to engage in open slander for fear of getting caught.Schools must bear some of the responsibility for what their students do, say and share online. In most cases, a significant amount of bullying is undertaken online at school and continued in the relative safety of their own home.By working with parents and students in the classroom and at home, teachers can foster a responsible environment of social media use where lessons are learnt, identity is protected and friendships can be fostered. But left without the necessary safeguards and oversight, the medium will continue to grow as a haven for bullying and online predators. China

China Education Alliance Receives Notice of Non-Compliance with NYSE Continued Listing Standards Source: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/China-Education-Alliance-prnews3352123774.html?x=0&.v=1 HARBIN, China, July 29, 2011 /PRNewswire-Asia-FirstCall/ -- China Education Alliance, Inc. ("China Education Alliance" or the "Company") (NYSE:CEU - News), a China-based education resource and services company, today announced that the Company was notified by the New York Stock Exchange ("NYSE") on July 12, 2011 that the Company was not in compliance with the NYSE continued listing standard requiring a listed security to maintain a minimum average closing price of $1.00 per share over a consecutive 30-trading-day period. The NYSE noted that the minimum average closing price is the only listing criteria the Company is not in compliance with. The Company has six months from receipt of the notification to bring its share price and average share price back above $1.00. About China Education Alliance, Inc. China Education Alliance, Inc. (http://www.chinaeducationalliance.com) is a fast-growing, leading, China-based company offering high-quality education resources and services to students ages 6 to 18 and adults (university students and professionals) ages 18 and over. For students ages 6 to 18, China Education Alliance offers supplemental, online exam-oriented training materials and onsite, exam-oriented training and tutoring services. The company provides online, downloadable famous-teacher resources and onsite, personalized instruction. All resources and tutoring services are provided by famous teachers within mainland China. The purpose of online exam-orientated resources and onsite tutoring is to help Chinese students (ages 6 to 18) pass the two most important and highly competitive exams in their educational career: the senior high school entrance and college entrance exams. For graduates and professionals age 18 and over, China Education Alliance provides vocational training including IT and several professional training programs. Thailand Thailand promises equal education to all children Source: http://www.mizzima.com/news/regional/2297-thailand-promises-equal-educationto-all-children.html Chiang Mai (Mizzima) Chaiwut Bannawat, Thailands Deputy Education Minister on Friday said the government will introduce a new policy of providing equal educational opportunities to all children in the Kingdom including over 100,000 stateless and migrant children.Speaking at the inaugural ceremony of The World Day Against Child Labour in Mae Sot district of Tak Province, near the Thai-Burmese border, the Deputy Minister said, while the Kingdom has strived to provide possible educational opportunities to all children, there remains a large number of children who have failed to receive education.In Tak province, there are 20,000 children who lack educational opportunities. Some 14,000 children are in the school system in 120 public schools and 9,816 children are in education centres, which follow the international education agreement of UNESCO. In the future we will be providing higher education, which ought to be provided in respect of their human rights, the Deputy Minister was quoted as saying by a Thai news website Manager. More than 1,500 children along with their teachers participated in the ceremony being held on the border provinces with Burma -- Chiang Rai, Ranong, Tak and Samut Sakorn, where numerous migrant and stateless children from Burma live.Marking the The World Day Against Child Labour, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) on Friday, released a statement saying the World Day this year marks the 10th anniversary of the adoption of the landmark ILO Convention No. 182, which addresses the need for action to tackle the worst forms of child labour.While celebrating the progresses made during the past 10 years, the World

Day will highlight the continuing challenges, with a focus on exploitation of girls in child labour, the statement said. Philippines Qualityeducation:thekeytopeace Source: http://opinion.inquirer.net/7645/quality-education-the-key-to-peace The Department of Education is currently guided by a 10-point basic education agenda that revolves around a 12-year Basic Education Cycle. Said agenda likewise outlines programs that reflect Education for Alls inclusive reform goals, such as Universal Primary Education (UPE), Madaris Education, Technical Vocational High School, Every Child a Reader by Grade 1, Science and Math proficiency, the Government Assistance to Private Education (GASTPE), and a Medium of Instruction based on the mother tongue. Furthermore, the DepEd works closely with local government units (LGUs) and the private sector to develop and implement programs that promote quality education at the community level.It is important to emphasize that the Education for Alls overarching theme is Education is a human right and a catalyst for development. Here in the Philippines, education is the key to Peace.In a country where providing food for and ensuring the safety of ones family take precedence over buying books and meeting learning goals, it is completely understandable that effectively addressing the challenges to quality educationespecially in conflict- affected areasis a task that demands unflinching resolve.Making quality education a reality in all schools is a goal that we should continuously strive for, in our homes, in our communities, in our country. However, the path toward achieving this reality is fraught with obstacles and challenges that have so far stymied the reform efforts of every administration ever elected since Ramon Magsaysay.For instance, this school year about 22 million pupils and students have enrolled from pre-school to high school. To meet the problems that such huge numbers bring, Education Secretary Armin Luistro has reached out to the private sector for help in building more classrooms. The private sector has been quick to respond through organizations such as Philippine Business for Social Progress, Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, the League of Corporate Foundations, as well as other private corporations and groups. The DepEd has likewise engaged LGUs as primary partners in classroom construction, hiring locally funded teachers and conducting school-based feeding programs. Secretary Luistro recently reported that a 50-50 cost sharing scenario has been implemented in the provinces of Camarines Sur, Albay, Dipolog City, Iligan City and Ligao City. U.S.A.. School Plan to Engage Parents Arouses Skepticism Sourcehttp://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/29/us/29cncparents.html?_r=1&ref=education The new leadership at Chicago Public Schools is taking another crack at one of the districts thorniest problems: involving parents in their childrens education. Parents, administrators and critics, who are skeptical and frustrated by past failures, say they hope the effort pays off this time.Mayor Rahm Emanuels new public schools team announced Wednesday that members were delivering on their promise to help parents navigate a system long known for its bureaucratic complexity by creating a Chief Community and Family Engagement Officer, which they say will make the nations third-largest school system become more parent-friendly. Research shows that parents relationship with a school district is vital to students success, but in Chicago, parents have long been left out of the equation, said Julie Woestehoff, executive director for Parents United for Responsible Education, a parent activist group.Its a bureaucracy, Ms. Woestehoff said, and a bureaucracy has walls and gates and doors, and they like to keep them all tightly closed, but parents need to be inside.The district does not dispute the problem. C.P.S. does not have a very reliable system in place to communicate directly with parents, said Becky Carroll, a district spokeswoman.But how to make the connection with

parents, especially those not active in school affairs, has long been a question with few satisfactory answers.

India Irrfan Khan spreads awareness about education Source: http://www.newkerala.com/news/2011/worldnews-37360.html "In a short time of eight years, Shri Ram New Horizons has accomplished a 360 degree addressal of students' and professionals' needs and also won their faith," said Irrfan, who has come a long way - he started with Doordarshan and is now regarded one of the best actors in filmdom.The actor will be the face of various SRNH brands including IIT Study Circle, New Horizons Learning Centre and KH Classes amongst others.The 48-year-old, a Nation School of Drama graduate, is known for his powerful performance in films like "Maqbool", "The Namesake", "Life...In A Metro" and "Slumdog Millionaire". SRNH is an established name in education circles offering 360 degrees educational solutions for the students and professionals across more than 80 locations. Speaking on the occasion, Ajay Sharma, managing director of SRNH said, "Irrfan has great faith in Indian formal and vocational educational system. He firmly believes that quality education and skilling will drive India's super-growth. He will be the Shri Ram New Horizons face to spread the word on various education, skilling, training and placement options for the students and career aspirants in the country," Sharma added. COMPARISON CHINA The Chinese educational system differs from the Philippines in terms of dialect and the academic year since both of them have different culture and weather. Chinas academic year starts from September to July and the Chinese people use their dialect that is very different from the dialect o the Filipino people. Because of their dialects accent, it is hard for them to learn the English language which is the universal language. They have the so called The Compulsory Education Law of 1986 that requires students to attend the nine years compulsory education for free but still they cant avoid basic fees to be paid by the parents because of the economic crisis. United States of America (U.S.A.) The United States of America has free and compulsory education. Science and Math teaching are their priorities because most of the students got a low grade in these subjects. The teachers have the right to choose the right text books that will suit to their students. They use the internet access to give a PHILIPPINES The Philippines academic year starts from June to March. We dont have a law which mandates a compulsory nine-year education unlike the Chinese people. Speaking and learning the English language is easily performed by our people since our accent is not that far from the Americans. The government helps in educating our people by giving scholarships and free education but still not all Filipino people can afford to study because of poverty.

Philippines The Filipino teachers also prioritize subjects that are usually not clearly understood by their students. The school is the one who chooses the text books to be used as their educating material. We are also using the internet to be updated with latest discoveries and facts that would be very

more advance lesson to their students. Before, the internet usages of the students are not that controlled but nowadays the government of America transformed this into an effective one, the use of internet for educational purposes. INDIA Poverty is a widespread problem in India. The educational system in India has its goal to give free compulsory education for the poor Indian but despite of this good goal the government cant still shoulder the education for the poor people because of lack of funds. This lead to a large number of uneducated Indian people while the elite schools are dominating India.

useful for the students and the teachers.

PHILIPPINES Like India, Philippines also its widespread poverty. A number of Filipino people are illiterate. Our government is exerting efforts to give education to our people but still not all can receive such because our country has a large population. There are also elite schools in our country that only people with the enough or large amount of money can attend. Individuals like Efren Peaflorida are helping in giving education to our people for free. PHILIPPINES

THAILAND

Thailand has its large and complex educational The Philippines has different educational system. They have different ministries that hold its government sectors that manages and handles educational specialty. They have two ministries that schools and universities like the DepEd( handle the public schools and the private schools. Department of Education) and the CHED( Even though Thailand is a small country, it has many Commission on Higher Education). We also have schools and institutes that offer various kinds of many universities like the University of the teaching and education. Philippines and college institutes that specialize in various courses. AUSTRALIA The education in Australia is compulsory from ages 5-15. They offer language programs in state schools for example Italian language. Distance and time influenced the educational system of Australia. Distance dictates the socio-cultural and economic development of Australia. Time has been affecting the newness of the facts and ideas that will contribute a lot in the development of education. PHILIPPINES There are also a number of schools that offer language programs in the Philippines. Factors like distance and time also affects our educational system since we are depending in all ideas that can be compared to each another. As time passes by, our educational system has been evolving into a more advance and informative one.