sweeping new rules for bc offshore schools draw praise, caution

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13-01-22 9:4weeping new rules for B.C. offshore schools draw praise, caution

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Tianjin Maple Leaf International School

Sweeping new rules for B.C. offshore schools draw praise, caution

BY JANET STEFFENHAGEN, VANCOUVER SUN JANUARY 21, 2013

Teachers who complained last year about conditions at a B.C.-certified school in China said they are

pleased the provincial government has introduced sweeping new rules for its offshore schools. But they

warned that the success of those regulations depends on rigorous monitoring.

Shannon Davis said she was encouraged by the promise of a formal process for resolving disputes

between teachers and administrators and the requirement for owners to abide by all human-rights and

employment laws in the jurisdictions where their schools are located. But without strict oversight and

penalties for violations, there will be no change, she said.

Davis, an ESL teacher at the Tianjin TEDA Maple Leaf International School last year, emailed the B.C.

Education Ministry last fall with allegations about grade inflation, contract violations and unsafe

conditions at the school. Not confident that the ministry would take action, she and several colleagues

also wrote to The Vancouver Sun, which published stories in November.

Documents leaked to The Sun later indicated that the ministry was reviewing its offshore schools and





the international student programs in B.C. public and independent schools.

Last week, the ministry revealed the results of the first review when it released an operating manual for

offshore schools. In an interview, Education Minister Don McRae said the new regulations are intended

to protect B.C.'s reputation for quality education and the value of the its graduation diploma, called the

Dogwood. He said students graduating from 34 offshore schools in China, South Korea, Thailand,

Egypt and Qatar should have the same quality of education as graduates from B.C. schools.

B.C.'s offshore schools have a combined enrolment of almost 10,000 students, most of whom want to

graduate with a Dogwood so they can gain easier access to western universities.

Not all teachers are pleased with the new operating manual, however.

Dorian Burt, a math and science teacher at Canada Qingdao secondary school, which also has B.C.

certification, said the regulations will punish successful offshore schools while not addressing the real

flaws in the sector. His main concern is with English provincial exams in Grades 10 and 12, which

students will now be required to pass before they get a Dogwood.

The exams are culturally biased against students who didn't grow up in the West, he said in an email

from China. For example, he said the theme of one exam last year was baseball "complete with all the

slang and metaphorical language that goes with it" while another focused on Christmas, he said.

"The exams consistently reference material that anyone not raised in a westernized country will not

understand."

He's also worried about a requirement for one-quarter of graduating students to attend a B.C. school

for at least one semester, starting in 2015-16.

"Many of the parents are struggling to put together enough money to pay tuition each year," he said.

"They simply can't afford to send their children overseas for a semester."

Burt, a Saskatchewan teacher who has worked at two B.C.-certified schools, said his main worry is that

the new regulations will hurt the same children they are intended to help. "I have met so many

wonderful children in my six years in China, and I know that many of their families won't be able to

meet the financial and geographical burdens this new system will impose."

Madeline Brewster, a B.C.-certified school who quit Tianjin around the same time as Davis, said the

government should require all principals of offshore schools to have a minimum of 10 years experience

in the public system in B.C. "This experience would ensure that the administrators know how to deliver

the B.C. curriculum appropriately," she said. "Currently, the exceptions made for those less qualified

principals have resulted in inexperienced and substandard leadership skills that do not accurately

reflect the British Columbia standards in Canada."





She also urged the ministry to conduct another inspection of the Tianjin school before June. Although it

was inspected in December, Brewster said school officials knew about that inspection well in advance

and had ample time to prepare for the "show" they later delivered.

The operating manual allows for surprise inspections for the first time and promises that annual

inspection reports will be posted on the ministry website.

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