. . Western students enjoy a seemingly relaxed educational experience. This, however, is not the case for students in Asia, who face crushing workloads and are often very disciplined. In the first part of her Globalist. The decision is partly based on an inability —or unwillingness — to spend thousands of dollars in tuition fees, especially given the suspicion that local schools are better anyway. After all, what more could one want from a basic education than a strong grounding in language, math and science, all subjects in which Asian schools famously excel. Our main concern is the ability of our son — and indeed the whole family — to adapt to the strict diligence that is expected of the Chinese. Apprehension increases when talking to local friends. China has a long history of standardized tests, beginning with the ancient imperial exams initiated during the Sui Dynasty.Shelly Chen is at the top of the class at the Shanghai foreign language school, one of the city’ s best middle schools. Already near fluent in English, she is studying German and ranks among the highest in her grade . . in physics. Her goal is to get a full scholarship to Harvard to study biochemistry. It is not only Western expatriates that grow anxious when hearing about students like Shelly. Throughout England, politicians, parents and pundits worry that the industriousness and discipline of kids in the East are leaving relatively relaxed Westerners trailing behind. Though there is some debate surrounding the statistics, it is widely believed that North America is failing to produce sufficient graduates in sciences and engineering.Still less controversy attends the observation that math scores throughout the West r...
