Studying in Los Angeles, in the suburbs of Manchester or New Delhi, may be a source of disparities. Students from different social backgrounds – boys or girls – are facing different systems and curricula. Is there educational equality amongst English-speaking countries?

IEducational or schooling systems

1 Equal opportunities

Common knowledge is shared amongst the different English-speaking countries. Indeed, the English language as well as the Anglo-Saxon heritage are to be found in their schooling systems.

In most countries, there are two systems: a public and a private sector. About 85% of American children attend free state-funded public school, 11% attend private schools and 4% are homeschooled. In the UK, education is a devolved issue. Each country (England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland) has its own system.

Each country has its own curriculum and own historical narrative. However, a strong emphasis is placed on personal achievement in American schools, where pupils are required to practise sports and join clubs. Otherwise, it is a challenge for them to be accepted into higher education.

2 Educational divide

In most English-speaking countries, education provided by the state is a human right. Primary education is compulsory, and secondary education should be accessible to every child, but is not mandatory like in India for example.

Gender equality is not always respected. Girls’ access to education is an everyday struggle for NGOs in India, while it should be a universal right (adopted by the UNO in 1948). Even if education is free, the cost of supplies can make it inaccessible, and parents prefer to send only their sons instead.

IIGaining knowledge

1 Access to education in the English-speaking world

For the past few years, there have been new forms of learning, such as remote learning or learning with robots. Podcasts, augmented reality, voice commands (for impaired students for example) are more and more available. It also promotes upward mobility for those who are denied standard education.

However, accessing these innovative approaches is a real challenge for disadvantaged and socially-excluded students. Social and racial divides in the USA make it difficult for some minority students to follow these new ways of learning and even if it is narrowing, there is still a digital gap: 78% of Whites, 67% of African Americans and Latinos nationwide use the Internet. More children drop out of high school in states with higher economic inequality (Missouri, Alabama, Kentucky…).

2 Sharing knowledge

There is more and more interaction between places of knowledge. Libraries, museums, and foundations have common programmes. University programmes “exchange” scientists, for example, for a set period of time. They can thus share their knowledge about a specific subject.

However, a lot of individuals decide to leave their countries to work in another one in search of a better life and higher salaries. It is not really an exchange but what we call “human capital flight”, which refers to highly-qualified individuals that emigrate or immigrate. If a country receives such an individual, it is called brain gain, while it is called brain drain for the sending country.

Zoom

India’s education divide

These pie graphs show the number of Indian girls and boys who are enrolled in higher education in 2014-2015. There are more boys than girls who are enrolled, with nearly 18 million against 15.4 million. Both sexes are overwhelmingly undergraduate (étudiant·e·s de 1^er cycle).

These data show that inequality between boys and girls is still poignant. However, it is striking to note that girls are more numerous and outperform boys in postgraduate studies. They tend to have better grades than boys.

➞ Read more about girls’ education around the world: bit.ly/PbacAMC1re_1a