Shanghai's maths success attracts interest abroad

The UK's Department for Education has announced that 60 maths teachers from Shanghai will be sent to Britain to help improve students' math levels. This comes as an effort to replicate the incredible success of students in Shanghai in world rankings.

This is a normal maths class in one of Shanghai's local high schools. Students here are eager to grapple with new knowledge in order to solve complicated problems.

"I like maths class. We have lots of discussion. It's quite fun," a student said.

"I prefer to do difficult exercises rather than basic ones. When I solve a problem I feel satisfied," another said.

The syllabus in this all-boy class caters specifically to the needs and strengths of the students, but the overall teaching method is the same as in other Chinese schools.

"The maths teaching structure in China is quite special. Knowledge learned in a lower grade will appear again in a higher grade, but more complex. This kind of structure lays a solid foundation for math learning," said Ye Ming, who teaches maths at Shanghai No. 8 High School.

Shanghai teenagers emerged as the best-performing in the world in the maths tests run by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

"Shanghai students are famous because of the PISA test. The maths score is much higher than students from other countries and regions. I think the reason behind is that we focus a lot on maths education, training of teachers as well as reform of teaching methods," said Zhang Ningxuan, principal at Shanghai Normal University.

"We also pay much attention on the educational resources across the city. That's why the average maths performance in the city has attracted the world's attention."

The success of students in Shanghai has attracted interest from the UK, which is concerned that its students are underperforming in subjects deemed vital to the country's economic future.

It has therefore hired 60 teachers in Shanghai to fly to England this autumn. They will demonstrate their methodology to their English counterparts, who will in turn spread the teaching approach to other schools in the UK.