Question:
Write an essay which involved with the comparative analysis of the secondary education system in the United Kingdom (UK) with Vietnam?
Answer:
This essay is involved with the comparative analysis of the secondary education system in the United Kingdom (UK) with a country of choice. The country chosen for comparison is Vietnam. This essay aims to compare and contrast the primary education system in both the countries. For both the countries, the secondary education system is very much essential. This system is created for the future purpose of the children. Comparing the present system of secondary education in both these countries, UK’s present secondary education system consists of a higher quality and a long tradition. On the other hand, the system of secondary schools in Vietnam has been borrowed from several other countries and its quality is poor too. Though, both of these countries have some differences and similarity in their system of education. The similarities can be noted regarding free education, the national curriculum for all schools of the state, but these two countries have differences too regarding the structure of education, the law regarding the schools and the overall quality of education. This essay also aims to identify the main areas of comparison and to give a final overview of the best secondary education in the two countries.
In the UK system of secondary education, the children are required by law to receive a free education until the age of sixteen. On the other hand, this system of free education is same, but it is not mandatory. Moreover, the national curriculum is created and applied to all the schools in the state in both the countries (Archer et al. 2014).
In both the countries, the national test is applied at the age of eleven, fourteen, and sixteen. A secondary system of education is considered as a local responsibility in UK to employ the teachers and education which is provided by the Local Education Authorities. Whereas in Vietnam, the local department of education is responsible for the secondary education. They employ the teachers individually (Aud et al. 2013).
Besides these similarities, there is some difference too regarding the structure of education, quality of the education and the facilities. The secondary education in Vietnam is divided into two levels, namely the high school education and basic secondary education. The students can leave school or seek admission to higher education after completing the twelve years. In comparison the secondary system of education in England comprises of three stages:
Stage 1: from 7-9 years
Stage 2: from 10- 11 years
Stage 3: After completing 11 year a student is free to leave school or can finish two more levels of study to study in higher education.
The education system of UK is far better than Vietnam regarding facilities and quality.
The other difference can be noted on law, the private schools for the secondary and primary students are not permitted. On the other hand, the private schools for the primary and the secondary students are permitted in the UK which adds quality to the education system (Bray et al. 2014).
The international students who come to UK for studying in a secondary school either enter at the age of eleven or wait until the age of thirteen (Dang and Hathaway 2015). During the age of eleven to fourteen, the children are mad to study a variety of subjects such as English, Math, Music, and sciences. After the age of fourteen, the children are required to sit for a set of exams known as GCSE, which is involved with the testing of skills and knowledge of the students in a competitive way. The students may also take some additional subjects such as German, French, Geography, History, Business Studies, etc. to appear for GCSE exam. GCSE utilizes a figure of two years and marks the end of the education which is compulsory for the UK students. Once they have completed their studies they can either move to higher education in a university or they can opt to work (Melhuish 2013).
A secondary system of education in Vietnam is divided into two levels namely, the lower secondary education and the upper secondary education. Lower secondary education is provided to those students who have completed their primary education i.e. after completion of grade 4. Whereas the secondary school is provided to those students, who have completed the Diploma of lower secondary school and also have cleared the entrance examination (Tuominen-Soini et al. 2012).
At this level, there are four different types of school and three different types of streams. The streams include Academic, vocational training, secondary technical and vocational education. The schools include specialized general education schools, High schools for the gifted, Vocation and technical secondary schools, international schools (Yan 2014). The admission to these schools is entirely based on the clearance of the entrance exams. The high scoring students are given the chance to attend the most esteemed schools (Woodin et al. 2013).
In the end, it can be concluded that for both the countries secondary education system is very much essential. This system is created for the future purpose of the children. Comparing the present system of secondary education in both these countries, UK’s present secondary education system consists of a higher quality and an extended tradition. On the other hand, the system of secondary education in Vietnam has been borrowed from several other countries and its quality is poor too. Though, both of these countries have some differences and similarity in their system of education. The similarities can be noted regarding free education, the national curriculum for all schools of the state, but these two countries have differences too regarding the structure of education, the law regarding the schools and the overall quality of education. Both of these countries try to offer the best secondary education for all the students, but they differ in their teaching facilities as well as qualities. For those students who wish to study abroad, the best choice could be UK because this country is far more advanced than that of Vietnam regarding the system of secondary education. On the other hand, those students who wish to study in their country, Vietnam can be considered as a good Choice. Hence, it depends on the perspective of the students
References:
Archer, L., DeWitt, J. and Wong, B., 2014. Spheres of influence: What shapes young people’s aspirations at age 12/13 and what are the implications for education policy?. Journal of Education Policy, 29(1), pp.58-85.
Aud, S., Wilkinson-Flicker, S., Nachazel, T. and Dziuba, A., 2013. The condition of education 2013. Government Printing Office.
Bray, M., Adamson, B. and Mason, M. eds., 2014. Comparative education research: Approaches and methods (Vol. 32). Springer.
Dang, V.H., and Hathaway, T., 2015. The influence of vocational education training image on students loyalty: a Case study in Vietnam. International Journal of Vocational and Technical Education, 7(5), pp.40-53.
Melhuish, E., 2013. Research on early childhood education in the UK. InHandbuch frühkindliche Bildungsforschung (pp. 211-221). Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden.
Tuominen-Soini, H., Salmela-Aro, K. and Niemivirta, M., 2012. Achievement goal orientations and academic well-being across the transition to upper secondary education. Learning and Individual Differences, 22(3), pp.290-305.
Woodin, T., McCulloch, G. and Cowan, S., 2013. Secondary Education and the Raising of the School-leaving Age: Coming of Age?. Palgrave Macmillan.
Yan, W.U., 2014. Seeking Outcome-based Equality: An Analysis on the Policies for Equality and Balance of Education in UK. Comparative Education Review, 3, p.014.
