Page 65 - EW August 2025

innovation — it is a symbol of a profound shift in the global
AI landscape,” says Hook who describes DeepSeek as dem-
onstrating “China’s technological independence”, calling it a
“cost-efficient, open-source LLM” that shows the country’s
ability to “innovate around US chip restrictions and domi-
nate AI development at scale”.

UNITED KINGDOM
Immigrants raising education standards

ENGLAND’S TEENAGERS ARE IN LIMBO. They
have sat their GSCE exams, which most take at 16,
and will receive the results on August 21. If they are
nervous, they should be. Good GSCE grades open doors to
colleges and universities, whereas bad grades shut them.
But teenagers in big cities should worry less. They are likely Immigrant children: 'London effect'
to do better than their peers elsewhere, and better than their
predecessors. ter than in smaller towns, where local politicians may worry
Over the past two decades the change in Manchester is about drawing pupils away from existing schools.
plain. Pupils entitled to free school meals (which, because Pupils in big cities are also close to diverse job markets,
Manchester is poor, is almost half of them) now outperform universities and cultural institutions. In Birmingham, Star
their peers in England as a whole. Poor pupils in Birming- Academies has formed a partnership with Mercedes-amg
ham and London are even further ahead. In Leeds, results petronas, a motorsport outfit. Their schools can hire young,
have gone from appalling to average. keen teachers. Perhaps the wonder is not that urban teens
The success of poor pupils in London is well known. It fare well, but that it was ever otherwise.
was already evident two decades ago; later it was dubbed
the “London effect”. Together with a booming economy, the NEW ZEALAND
capital’s growing educational success helped turn it into a Foreign students booster plan
thriving and confident global city, the envy of the rest of
Britain. Several other big cities are now faring better in part NEW ZEALAND HAS UNVEILED A comprehen-
because they have come to resemble London. sive 10-year strategy to double the value of its in-
London has long been more ethnically mixed and more ternational education sector by 2034, as new fig-
foreign-born than the country as a whole. That helps be- ures show a strong rebound in student enrolments.
cause almost every group does better at school than poor The ‘International Education Going for Growth Plan”,
white Britons. Simon Burgess, an economist at the Univer- released by education minister Erica Stanford, aims to
sity of Bristol, showed in 2014 that the success of second- increase the sector’s contribution to the economy from
ary-school pupils in London could be explained by the fact NZ$3.6 billion (Rs.18,720 crore) in 2024 to NZ$7.2 billion
that so many were from ethnic-minority groups. Migrants’ within a decade. The strategy — which aims to establish
children and grandchildren have the good fortune (which New Zealand as “the destination of choice for international
may not always feel like good fortune) of being nagged by students” — comes as other rival countries tighten rules
parents who were driven by ambition to uproot themselves. around overseas enrolments.
Big cities may have got better at teaching, too. Since the New data from Education New Zealand (ENZ) show that
late 2000s schools in Greater Manchester have been en- international student full-year enrolments for 2024 are up
couraged to learn from each other. Mel Ainscow, an educa- 21 percent on 2023 levels. The total now stands at 72 per-
tionist who drove that process, says that headteachers took cent of the equivalent pre-pandemic figures in 2019.
to it more readily than their counterparts in some towns and Growth has been recorded across all areas, with Master’s
rural areas. In a small place where everyone knows every- enrolments going up by 68 percent year-on-year. Recent
one, criticism can feel personal. figures showed New Zealand (pop. 5.3 million) universities
The fact that cities tend to have growing populations, and achieved record revenue from international tuition fees last
need new schools, can be another advantage. New schools year. The country’s new plan hopes to extend this further,
are often fired by a sense of mission. Star Academies, a par- targeting a rise in student numbers from 83,400 in 2024
ticularly successful group of schools, has opened 21 “free” to 105,000 by 2027 and 119,000 by 2034.
schools across England — free from local-authority control, Several policy changes have been announced, including,
that is. Sir Hamid Patel, its chief executive, says it has been from November 2025, eligible international students be-
easier to find sites in cities like Birmingham and Manches- ing allowed to work up to 25 hours per week during study,

AUGUST 2025 EDUCATIONWORLD 65