rationalskepticism.org

I'm With Stupid wrote:We can't rule out cultural aspects when it comes to academic achievement, of course. Children from Asian and Jewish backgrounds do much better on average than the rest of the population (when adjusted for economic differences, of course). Some have suggested this may be a result of genetic differences, but my first thought would be cultural. Both of these cultures at least stereotypically place a high value on education. And the documentary I saw this on suggested that black kids (below average by the same measurements) whose parents adopted similar values would see similar results no matter what their income level was, etc. They also visited a school in the Bronx (I think) that had managed to successfully change its culture with dramatic results, despite the background of the kids being identical. So I'm pretty sure it's true that a well run school can do more with the same money just by focusing on a particular school culture. However, I'm not sure that religious schools in the UK as a group are any more capable of doing that than any other, and their success is still almost certainly down to the students they pick rather than the religious ethos. I don't see anything in Christianity or Christian culture, which puts a huge emphasis on academic achievement, and if there is, then centuries of Christian influence on our society means you are unlikely to be able to seperate it from the population as a whole, like you can with the distinct cultures of immigrants.

In SA with kids from Christian backgrounds the huge successes are not because they\re into the sciences but just a way to get into medical school. The fight for places is so aggressive that only the best of the best get in and then they have to fight the AA quotas as well. So they encourage their kids to do science and maths for that reason but also our universities insist on the subjects in the 'academic' school curriculum for entrance. You can't get into university with typing and home economics as your 'matric' subjects and also because of the lack of specialist teachers and financing, we don't get the options that other countries' schools offer.
Mostly our university entrance candidates have these options: English and another of the official languages, Maths (including algebra, geometry, trig and some calculus) Science (Physics and Chemistry) Biology, History, Geography. Then they have options from the following. Computer Literacy, Technical Drawing, Art (including art history) Home Economics and a few others I'm not sure about what else they've added since I last spoke to school kids. But the first six are what most kids do for university entrance. We don't have Latin, Greek or any of the classical subjects. Of course I'd like to see more options available but as a result of our past history, we have a lot of catching up to do. I'm pleased to see that our arts programmes are taking off again but even something like music appreciation isn't taught at our schools anymore, kids have to get outside training and join arts groups to get into dance, music etc. And most people doing law, theology and ancient history at university have to do bridging classes in Latin etc.