Interesting merits and demerits
of a U.S. versus U.K. education
By Aliae Refson
Of ttt* Emerald
“What language do they
speak in England ?” It's a ques
tion I've been asked an alarming
number of times since my arrival
at the University six months ago
It has led me to believe that a
brief comparison between the
American and British educa
tional systems might be helpful.
From my limited experience,
English high schools seem to be
institutions with the one-track
aim of churning out students
wise in the art of studying, (a
skill suited only to the tiny min
ority who go on to universities)
American high schools seem to
be communities charged with
the function of teaching youths
to get on with each another in
their attempts to persuade
students that learning is fun,
they sometimes fail to prepare
them for the demands of col
lege Yet, a large percentage of
American high school grad
uates head in that direction.
The English student begins
high school at 11 Compuisory
education continues until 16,
optional until 18 The student
has no control over his cur
riculum until he is 15
Mastery of the compulsory
basics is the first priority The
“frilly" subjects available to
American students, like jewelry
making and personal intercom
munication, are no doubt fun,
but seem to produce a propen
sity of college students virtually
unexposed to the laws of gram
mar However, the English sys
tem might do well to adopt some
American "real life" prepara
tory classes, such as driver s
education, citizenship and
personal finance A com
promise seems in order
During their last two years of
high school. English students
study three chosen subjects,
preparing for Advanced Level
Examinations, or "A" levels A
British student cannot change
his area of specialty at will. De
gree requirements specify par
ticular A levels and a student
who took arts subjects at A level
would be unable to take a B S
degree
The final A-level exams are
comprehensive, covering work
of the entire two-year period
This is a far cry from the Amer
ican school system where
students are only tested on one
term's material
In American colleges, the
constant pressure of mid-terms
and papers due daily forces
students into tightly-regulated
work regimes An English
student might be assigned
papers on a weekly or even
Over twice as
many students
attend college
in the U.S.A.
monthly basis and only have
exams at the end of his first and
third years
English students pursue de
grees in one of their A-level
subjects When an English
student takes a degree in
physics, for example, it's a de
gree in physics alone — nothing
else need be studied Some
joint-honors courses, where
students study two subjects in
depth, have been developed,
but this still contrasts with the
incredible number of seemingly
unrelated subjects taken by
American students
Many Americans I have spo
ken to regard the English de
gree as shockingly narrow, but
it can be argued that an English
high school satisfactorily fulfills
the demands of a general
education For instance, an
English student going to a un
iversity with a science back
ground will have had two years
of calculus in high school
For extensive studies in a
field, Americans rely on
graduate course work. After all,
only 36 credits are needed in
one field to qualify for a ba
chelor's degree. Thus, Amer
icans become more specialized
in one area than the
"specialized" English.
Apart from a few sequence
courses, tiny isolated topics can
be studied at random in Amer
ican universities. Many Amer
icans enroll for certain classes
simply because they are the on
ly ones that fit together into an
otherwise impossible time
schedule. While at the other
extreme, tne incredible pos
sibility exists that students may
be unable to get into classes
high on their priority list.
The basic difference between
English and American educa
tion seems to be that the former
stresses professionalism and
the latter diversity. Here, the
University provides a fun at
mosphere, where the student is
led through a shallow
exploration of knowledge. Only
in the last few moments is he
expected to discover his true
vocation and pause there to
dabble a little longer.
From the fact that well over
twice as high a percentage of
Americans go to college as
English, it seems reasonable to
suppose that many Americans
go to college without any real
intellectual curiosity. The nature
of the system encourages their
continued low-level participa
tion.
There seems to be an unwrit
ten right for every Americn ci
tizen — who can find the fin
ances — to have a college
education regardless of ability;
the entry requirements are, after
all, minimal. In England, univer
sity fees are paid by the govern
ment but this right has to be won
through academic achieve
ment
Letters plan gets a ‘well done’
During a brief and informal
meeting of the Student Univer
sity Affairs Board Thursday,
both ASUO Pres Rich Wilkins
and SUAB Chairer Gale Graham
made references to the success
of the recent congressional let
ter-writing campaign
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"SUAB and ASUO have
worked together and done a
good job in putting across this
proposal," Graham said The
campaign was well done,”
The ASUO/SUAB co-spon
sored proposal yielded a total of
650 letters from students Due
to this success, similar cam
paigns will be initiated at the
beginning of each term, said
SUAB vice chairer Mike Prothe
"I want to thank all of you for
helping with the letters," Wilkins
said "It was a group effort. It
came off well."
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