Shanghai's textbooks to be translated for UK classrooms
CULTURE
By Gao Yun

2017-03-24 22:15:27

By CGTN's Sun Wei, Yang Ran
British classrooms may soon be learning mathematics the Chinese way. Shanghai Century Publishing House and the Harper Collins Group have struck a deal that will see Chinese math textbooks translated into English for UK primary schools.
A series of 36 math textbooks used by primary schools across Shanghai will be translated and released as English versions in the UK.
"Because we can see that maths teaching and learning is successful in Shanghai, that places like Singapore and Shanghai... have just one textbook rather than lots of publishers, it could be argued that it is a better way of helping children learn math," said Steve McCormack, from the British Ministry of Education.
British education authorities communicate with Chinese pupils. /CGTN Photo
British education authorities have been eyeing Shanghai's math teaching methods since last year. The Chinese city is one of the top performers in the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) rankings. The UK meanwhile lagged in 27th position in the PISA study last year. 
A BBC survey in the streets of London showed the multiplication table still posed a challenge to many.
Shanghai's textbooks to be translated for UK classrooms /CGTN Photo
The math textbooks have been an essential part of Shanghai students' education for some two decades. Now it is hoped that they might do the same for the UK as they have done for some of China's brightest minds. 

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