Private schools in UK lose out
An education at a pres-tigious British private school, once regarded as an essential preparation for the ruling elites of developing countries, has lost some of its lustre, according to figures released yesterday.
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The Independent Schools Council (ISC), which represents 60 per cent of Britain's private schools, including famous names such as Harrow and Eton, said its annual census showed they were losing out to competition from other overseas education markets, including Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.
Despite the high regard in which Britain's private schools are held around the world, and after several years of increases in foreign recruitment, the number of pupils in 2004 was 8,602 9.8 per cent lower than the previous year's census findings.
ISC cited a number of factors for the decrease including sterling's strength and the added financial burden of new visa charges, which started in August 2003 and have already damaged the recruitment of overseas students by British universities.
Jonathan Shephard, general secretary of ISC, said an increase of the existing ￡255 charge to ￡500 ($945, �738) this month would damage the wider UK economy. “Overseas students are not of primary importance to our sector but to UK plc generally. It is in our interests of the country as a whole to encourage students from overseas to join higher education courses. Therefore, we need to get them into the British curriculum as soon as possible.”
The drop in numbers was also affected by cheaper alternatives to international education closer to home. Some of Britain's best-known public schools have been offering British-style education at local costs through franchise arrangements and purpose-built campuses abroad.
Harrow and Dulwich, for example, operate schools in both China and Thailand. Thailand saw a 26 per cent drop in the number of students coming to Britain.
China, the second biggest market for British education, also fell 8 per cent to 1,020 students in 2004. The ISC said it was aware of “negative propaganda” by the Chinese government designed to dissuade students from leaving the country.
There is less demand among continental Europeans for British education although the ISC said it was delighted by a 9.5 per cent growth in students from France. It put this down to curriculum reforms and the encouragement of European section schools that specialise in teaching English.
英国私校海外学生大减
昨天公布的数字显示，在享有盛誉的英国私立学校受教育一度被视为发展中国家统治精英必不可少的准备过程，但这种教育已失去了部分光芒。
私立学校委员会(Independent Schools Council)代表着英国60%的私立学校，其中包括哈罗(Harrow)和伊顿(Eton)这样著名的学校。该委员会说，年度调查显示，他们正在其它海外教育市场的竞争下败退，这些市场包括澳大利亚、新西兰和南非。
尽管英国的私立学校在全球受到高度赞誉，并且海外招生数量经历了多年的增长，但2004年的学生数为8602人，比上年的调查结果低了9.8%。
私立学校委员会列出了许多条海外招生数量下降的原因，包括英镑的强势以及新的签证收费增大了经济负担。新的收费政策是从2003年8月开始实施的，已经损坏了英国各大学招收海外留学生的工作。
私立学校委员会秘书长乔纳森?谢泼德(Jonathan Shephard)说，本月将现有的255英镑收费提高到500英镑(合945美元)的举措，将对更大范围的英国经济造成损坏。“海外学生不仅对我们这一产业十分重要，对英国的整个企业界也是这样。鼓励海外学生选择高等教育课程符合我们整个国家的利益。因此，我们需要尽快让他们进入英国就读。”
外国学生数量的下降，也受到了离本国更近的其它国际教育选择的影响，后者的花费更少。一些英国最著名的公立学校一直在通过特许安排和特意设立的海外校区，以当地成本提供英式教育。
例如，哈罗和德威士(Dulwich)在中国和泰国都办了几所学校。泰国到英国的学生数量下降了26%。
中国是英国教育的第二大市场，2004年的学生数量也下降8%，至1020名。私立学校委员会说，它已意识到中国政府的“负面宣传”，其目的是劝阻学生不要离开中国。
