High student achievement across East Asia is often explained as an outcome of highly competitive, stress-inducing college entrance exams across the region. This 'exam hell' drives students to study longer and harder than their peers worldwide, a race that leads--unsurprisingly--to higher marks in international comparisons such as the Programme for…

Primary education in Russia has failed to adapt to the needs of post-Soviet society, and is still based on rote learning and memorization instead of learning through discovery and learning to use and apply what is learned.