Watching Scots

Chinese-science-exams-more-interesting-and-demanding-than-GCSEs

(from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/ 22 June, 2009.)

Maths and science exams taken by students in China are more “interesting and demanding” than their British GCSE counterparts

This sub-heading is confused. The writer used the word ‘British’ either to avoid the wordy ‘English and Welsh counterparts’ or to blanket the whole of the Britain with a system only found in some parts. If ‘GCSE’ had been left out, an astute reader would have questioned if all UK education systems had been compared to the Chinese one. Including ‘GCSE’ limits the comparison to the English (& Welsh) system. Hardly all-encompassing British.

The Royal Society of Chemistry’s stated purpose was to help gather data “to ensure the country has the right skills for the future”. Which ‘country’ is being referred to here, I wonder? My question is answered soon:

The Chinese exam papers in chemistry and maths were taken last year by pupils studying at the same level as England’s GCSE students
(Italics mine)

If there should be any doubt of the existence of the ‘England-as-Britain’ trope, the Telegraph’s use of the terms should put that to bed immediately. Altogether, there are three iterations of ‘English/ England’ and two of ‘Britain’ all used synonymously. The sub-text of this Telegraph article is that the English education system IS the British one.

Education in the United Kingdom is a devolved matter with each of the countries of the United Kingdom having separate systems under separate governments: the UK Government is responsible for education in England, the Scottish Government is responsible for education in Scotland,[1] the Welsh Assembly Government is responsible for education in Wales[2] and the Northern Ireland Executive is responsible for education in Northern Ireland.

Wikipedia does not even begin to address the issue in a single page and immediately refers readers to the relevant separate encyclopedia entries.

As a Scot who worked hard enough to gain four Scottish Highers back in the day, it’s quite galling to (continually) have that system ignored. As a Scot hoping for full independence, the continued separation is a useful seed to plant in preparation for the day that articles like the Telegraph’s one actually has lexical accuracy.