Schools

[swaggron711]

I've been to schools in both Asia and Europe, which were very different, but still have some same problems.

I think the main problem with school is, they are trying to make everyone the same, whilst everyone is significantly different.
For example, schools worldwide fit everyone into classes of different subjects by age group.
But in reality, people develop in different paces in different subjects.

Amen to that.

Some Asian countries don't even allow academic acceleration, and students who develop quickly in certain subjects can become very very bored in lessons, whilst students who develop slowly in certain subjects can feel very lost.
Also, in many Asian countries, if you fail a certain subject, you have to re-do the entire year again-- making you older than everyone else in the class. This is very embarrassing.

However, even with academic acceleration, you are expected to advance one year in all subjects, instead of only 1 or 2 subjects that you are gifted in.
Very few countries allow academic acceleration in selected subjects instead of all subjects.

I assume by Asian, you mean the ethnicity and not the continent. All these points are valid for India as well, you have to repeat the entire year if you fail more than a certain number of subjects, which is just a waste of time. Academic acceleration was allowed a few years back, but now it's not there. (However the fail rates are much much lower because the papers have become easy and checking is lenient)

 

[Ardy]

In my country, we have public schools and private schools, but education isnt compulsory or free in public schools. I was fortunate enough to be born in a wealthy enough family to afford to go to a private school, which is honestly where majority of students go here. We follow the CIE board syllabi, and rote learning is discouraged. The biggest difference Ive seen in my school vs what pop culture has told me about American schools is its VERY competitive. Popularity is directly proportional to your intelligence, and I for one have met very few other students from my country who've gotten a grade lower than a B or C.
And when I say competitive, I mean that to most students here, grades are everything. 90% of students(including me) take additional tutions apart from school and pour over past papers to get into the minds of the examiners. Since CIE is percentile based, some even resort to psychological warfare so to speak, discouraging other students from studying(although this is rare).