F on from Finnish Education thread, which country has the best ed system?

[2boyz1girl]

Following on from the Finnish thread would be interest to hear what op think is the best ed system.
In the OT other posters suggested the Russia, Austria & Ireland have very good programmes.
It is fascinating how the countries differ so much however after doing a bit of research in Russia & Austria kids start school at 7 after attending free preschool & in Ireland kids get 2 year free preschool after they turn 3 so they start school at 5 or 5.5.
We are obviously failing here as English children start the year they turn 4. In Ireland, Russia,Finland & Austria they are in playbased preschools for at least 2 years after our children with no pressure so obviously that has to give the European children an advantage-they are ready & biting at the chomp to learn.... AIBU that we start our kids too young in the UK?

I am not in the UK.
I look at the threads here about children in Reception year and Yr 1 and I thank my lucky stars that my children didn't have to cope with that.
Then add in Sats and 11+, and tutoring 3 year olds and 7 year olds...it sounds beyond bonkers.

No such thing.

All systems have their shortcomings.

Agreed SuperBeagle all systems have their flaws & also agreed LovingLola that we are bonkers her in the UK. The vast majority of European kids don't start school until their 7 & learn to read & write then etc however we have entrance interviews for 3 year olds for some privates, 4 plus, 7 plus etc, it's bizarre. The European kids surpass ours so we need to look at our system & while I think the vast majority of parents would be opposed to delaying school entry by 2 years we need to look to Europe for ideas as we are failing our kids.
4 year olds are not physically able for the vast majority of skills that they are "required" to do in reception, their fine & gross motor skills simply aren't ready yet. However their self esteem is dented & they develop a "can't do" attidute.. Utterly depressing

We moved about and my DC have experienced four different countries education systems (private schools overseas but 'local' private schools following local curriculums),and I'd say that non is better or worse than the others. They all had their good points and their bad points.

It's matching the right kid to the right countries education programme that's the problem. Starting school later is a massive problem for some kids whereas starting school early can equally problematic for other children. One of my DCs didn't start school until he was six and even then the first year was very 'gentle'. It was way too late for him.

If I was in charge of a countries schooling I'd minimise private school and completely ban grammar and relegeous school. I'd get kids to go to their closest local school and I would provide enough funding so that there were enough decent teachers about. I'd make all school 'outstanding'

Bit of a problem banning religious schools in Ireland although I agree with you

There's a really interesting book called Cleverlands which looks at all the so called best systems around the world and examines their pros and cons. The writer actually worked as a teacher in all of them so really got to know them well.

I personally do believe children here start formal education too young. Even at nursery/pre school nowadays they seem obsessed with beginning to teach reading and maths. There really isn't evidence thats it's beneficial long term to learn early and can put children off if they're not ready.

It is away too young, the concepts for maths & reading can only be understood when the brain is developed enough & children are already competent learners... I would love a change.
Davros relatives talk about non denominational schools- Educate Togethers in Ireland, they sound wonderful.

There was an interesting discussion in the Staffroom forum a while ago. Someone posted a picture of the average Russian classroom vs average English classroom.

The English classroom was festooned in laminated crap, packed in with round tables and more laminated crap.

The Russian classroom was clean, bright and tidy. Rows facing the teacher.

Is all very interesting.

I find it fascinating Balfe, one would imagine that the education system in Russia would not be as well funded as the UK one however they are excellent linguists, it's a country that produces great engineers, scientists & mathematicians. Apparently chess is a big part of the schooling there. All children have access to upper class (in the uk) activites such as classical music, languages, ballet etc & as this is very much part of Russian society it is their norm...There has to be a correlation. Education is taken very seriously