School Standards Minister has told his international
counterparts that the English education system will remain
outward-looking and internationalist after Brexit.
Speaking at a G7 meeting of education ministers in France
this week, Minister Gibb reaffirmed his commitment to
drawing on best-practice and evidence from across the world
when looking to improve the education system.
Many of the government’s reforms introduced since 2010 have
been based on world-leading successful practices identified
in other countries, such as technical and vocational
education in Germany and maths teaching in high-performing
Asian countries such as Shanghai.
School Standards Minister said:
Education transcends borders, nationalities and languages
– and we are proud that our education system has taken in
a wealth of influence from other countries around the
world, not just our European neighbours.
But it is not all one way – there are a host of countries
that come to the UK to learn from what we do so well in
our own schools and colleges and to learn about our
reforms to the curriculum, to the teaching of reading and
our academies and free schools programme.
It is more important than ever that this approach
continues in the coming months and years as we look to
our international partners, in bringing forward even more
vital improvements to our education system.
Minister Gibb attended the G7 Education Ministers’ Meeting,
which focused on early years schooling and teacher training
with his counterparts from other G7 countries, and the
invited countries of Singapore, Argentina and Estonia, on
Thursday.
He also signed a Ministerial declaration stating that
confronting inequality requires substantial efforts across
borders to improve educational policies and systems.
Ministers committed to share best practice and research
evidence and unite against bullying in all its forms.
Today, he will be visiting two schools in Paris to learn
more about the French education system and see how French
schools operate first-hand.
The gold-standard T-Levels programme draws on practice from
several European countries, including Austria, Denmark,
Netherlands and Norway, while the apprenticeships programme
has been influenced by policy in Germany and Switzerland.
Primary school pupils in England are also learning maths
through a world-leading method of teaching based on that
used in Shanghai – consistently ranked among the best for
maths performance in the world.
Several other countries have also learned from the
Department’s own education reforms, with the pupil premium
beginning to be replicated in some states in Australia,
which have noted the progress made on reducing the
attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and their
peers.
The phonics screening check was also introduced for Year 1
pupils in South Australia in 2018, while France and Estonia
have recently expressed interest in the Department’s EdTech
Strategy.
The UK higher education system already has a global
reputation for quality and, according to the QS World
University Rankings, has 4 providers in the top 10. On the
Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS),
England achieved its highest ever score in reading in 2016,
moving from joint 10th to joint 8th in the rankings
following a greater focus on phonics in primary school.
