[dmitri1981]

Having studied in Russia, Germany and UK, I would say that:

- Technical education was emphasized over humanities. It was much more important to produce good engineers as required by industry and military rather than "thinkers".

- Maths was traditionally well taught across the board, whereas in Europe and especially UK it is seen as tough and unnecessary.

- Doing well in school is seen as a point of pride. Thus many work hard to do well in school to get the respect of their peers.

[memracom]

I like that one. Doing well in school is seen as a point of pride. If that attitude ever takes hold in the USA then you will know that the MAGA movement has succeeded, utterly.

Will Trump's America be able to overcome the deep seated American cultural attitude that being stupid is being superior?

[ejanus]

This culture is copied 100% by citizens of West Africa where I am from. That is why our economy is dead and we don't seem to be disturbed. Schools are not meant to produce anything useful except poorly designed papers after 4-5 years. Hard work is discourage d and serious learning is seen as waste of time. We produce engineers that are non-functional.

Sometime last two months I started thinking that hash Sun heat and non availability of public electricity maybe the root cause of our low interest in learning. It is hot from ten in morning till late mid night . And houses were not designed with ventilation in mind. And because of scarcity of land in urban areas people are living in congested communities .

[ajeet_dhaliwal]

Given the USA and the U.K. and all the places with ‘bad schools’ are still the wealthiest places it’s not so clear this is so important although intuitively it feels like it should be.