G20 Conference

6 May 2016

After Stowe co-hosted the G20 group of schools in 2015 with Marlborough and Wellington, this year’s annual conference took place in China and was organised by the Chinese International School in Hong Kong and the High School Affiliated to Renmin University in Beijing. Iconic schools taking part included Geelong Grammar School in Australia, King’s Academy in Jordan, Sigtunaskolan Humanistika Laroverket in Sweden, Brookhouse School in Kenya and Daly College in India.

Five days was not enough to do justice to the depth and complexity of The Middle Kingdom, but we learned a great deal about China’s determination to ensure that every child is given a good education. Mr Ping Hao, Vice Minister of Education, provided insights into the challenge of delivering the twelfth Five Year Plan which focuses on gender equality in schools, improving teaching quality and educating the 22 million ‘left behind’ children who remain in rural areas while their parents work in cities.

Mr Lianping Xian, Vice-Secretary of the Beijing Municipal Commission on Educational Affairs, gave a revealing talk on efforts to modernise schools by embracing internationalism, interactive and pupil-focused pedagogy and encouraging teachers to be “more like coaches than referees”. The Confucian system is gradually being replaced by a blended ecology of learning which emphasises the latent potential of each and every pupil.

One of the most interesting speeches was given by the founder of the Alibaba Group, Jack Ma, reputed to be China’s wealthiest individual. Ma told us about his background as a teacher in Hangzhou and how he registered his dotcom company before the word ‘Internet’ existed in China. Alipay is now seven times bigger than PayPal and Ma is predicting that Alibaba sales will reach $1 trillion by 2019. Reflecting on the changing education system in China, Ma rejected exam grades and league tables as the KPI for schools and suggested that teamwork, philanthropy, culture and sport need to be both prized and praised. Ma’s plan to train the Headmasters of rural schools in China, which educate some 40 million children, was enthusiastically embraced by G20 delegates.

We were very fortunate in having other lectures by such renowned figures as Professor Dongling Wang, China’s foremost calligrapher, Yigong Shi, Dean of the School of Life Sciences at Tsingshua University and Christopher Law, Founding Director of The Oval Partnership Architects and Urbanists.

As ever with G20 conferences the highlight was the camaraderie of re-connecting with old friends and visiting schools in the host country. We were impressed with the success of the CIS campus in Hangzhou and how the Year 10 pupils from Hong Kong had improved their Mandarin, gained a deeper understanding of Chinese culture and society and developed independence and self-confidence while living away from home for a year. The pupils of the High School Affiliated to Renmin University staged an orchestral concert of dazzling virtuosity which also featured dancing, singing and Tai Chi of the highest standard imaginable.

According to Chinese mythology, there are three key stages of evolution: first, humans are discovered and freed from the oversight of the Gods; then women are discovered and freed from male domination; finally, children are discovered and freed from dependence on adults and the world is filled with sunshine. Perhaps the third phase of evolution has begun?

Dr Anthony Wallersteiner, Headmaster