4 minutes
Education systems differ from country to country. However, one or a few may stand out above the rest.
On a global scale, which education system offers students a variety of opportunities? What factors should be considered when calling one the “best”?
Finland, Denmark, and South Korea: designed for citizens' economic and social stability
According to the World Top 20, project, an authoritative website providing annual global rankings of the 20 best education systems among 200 countries.
Finland, Denmark and South Korea hold the top three positions in its 2020 education survey rankings. All these countries are positioning themselves to create economic and social stability for their citizens.
What are the secret ingredients? Let us explore these five factors.
Early education
The early education systems of Finland, Denmark, and South Korea are designed around learning through play.
Children learn best when they use their imagination:
- Play creates opportunities to learn vocabulary
- It offers opportunities for social and emotional development
- It enables and encourages critical thinking
There are different types of play, and activities can be structured through play in various ways. These early childhood foundations are the building blocks of academic learning.
The age at which compulsory schooling begins is interesting
In Finland, children are not required to attend school until age six. They begin preschool at six and primary education at seven. Finnish children have access to free public preschools , whether their families are low-income or wealthy.
Denmark and South Korea offer public preschools free of charge . For example, 96% of Danish children aged 3 to 5 attended preschool in 2007. Similarly, in South Korea, almost 50% of children enroll in preschool each year.
The other half receive their early education from parents or attend private preschools.
Costs and equity vary
For example, Finland, which has the world's best education system, offers students free education and meals from primary through secondary level.
In Denmark, there are no education fees until students turn 16. Once they complete secondary education, the Danish government authorizes students to receive limited income support called Statens Uddannelsestøtte.
Similarly, schools in South Korea provide students with primary education at no cost. At secondary level, lower-secondary education is also free in public and private schools. However, upper-secondary education is not free in South Korea, but it is not compulsory.
Instructional days are spread throughout the year.
Another feature these three countries share is their year-round school schedule. This means their instructional days are distributed throughout the year rather than interrupted by a long summer break.
Most schools in Finland offer a one-week autumn vacation and a 10-day Christmas break. Students also receive 7 days of winter vacation in February.
In South Korea, school days are scheduled with two breaks throughout the year. The first runs from mid-December to late January, followed by a summer break for students from August to September.
Students are not given a pile of homework during these breaks, but parents encourage them to take part in enjoyable extracurricular activities. Most students like taking classes related to their interests, such as dance, painting, and more.
- Finland has the fewest school days throughout the year: 190 days annually.
- In Denmark, students attend school for 200 of the year's 365 days.
- South Korea's school year is divided into two semesters and scheduled year-round.
Standardized testing
Finland and Denmark have no standardized tests until students reach higher education, and South Korea's system has no exams in primary schools. Although there are no annual standardized tests, these education systems still have ways of checking students' abilities.
Assessments in these schools are therefore tailored to individual students. They are conducted by teachers who already know each student's objectives in the relevant subject.
Finnish students take only one voluntary test at the end of upper-secondary school, called the National Matriculation Examination. This test determines whether students have acquired all the knowledge and skills taught in the upper-secondary curriculum or achieved the goals for which the curriculum was established.
Excellent numeracy levels
International education rankings in 2020 also revealed that students in the best education systems demonstrated excellent mathematical understanding. Students in these systems perform very well when it comes to numbers and statistics.
In this regard, the Finnish school system has implemented reforms over the past 40 years. Finland's program emphasized learning key skills such as numeracy and problem-solving rather than simply cramming basic rules as before.
As a result, Finland scored highly not only in assessments such as PISA but also in a competition called the Survey of Adult Skills, PIAAC.
Similarly, South Korea's education system is an excellent example of teaching basic arithmetic principles.
Above all, in Danish schools, reasoning and designing different strategies are part of most subjects to improve children's learning competence. Students receive assessments such as school projects every week.
By collecting data from various sources, children's ability to analyze a problem automatically makes them highly competent at evaluating problems and analyzing situations.
In conclusion, Finland, Denmark, and South Korea have some of the world's best education systems, but they are also closing the gap between their education systems and the labor market.
In Denmark, students begin higher education by working together, while Finnish students generally begin working in their intended careers as interns or apprentices during secondary education.
Consequently, these countries are also becoming leaders in economic sectors such as finance, construction, and manufacturing.
Source: Up Journey