As most Grade 5 students in the Philippines and its poorer neighbours do not have the minimum reading and mathematical skills expected at the end of primary education, the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) stressed the need to “harness the potential” of early childhood education (ECE).

The British Department of Education announced recently that half of the primary schools in England will teach mathematic in the “Asian way”, for which the government will provide huge funds to pay for teaching materials and teachers’ training.