The 10 Best Secondary Education Systems in the World

Having economic stability and maintaining high living standards starts and ends with an educated workforce. If the next generation is equipped with strong reading, math and science skills, they can compete in today’s tech-driven world. With that in mind, we’ve used facts and figures from the National Center on Education and the Economy (NCEE) in order to create a list of countries that provide the best high school education in the world. Think you’re smarter than a 10th grader? Unless you come from one of these 10 countries, consider us skeptical.

10. New Zealand

New Zealand might not rank as highly as some of these other countries, but it still made the list due to improvements in achievement levels. For instance, from 2012 to 2015, the country advanced from 13th to 10th in reading, 18th to 12th in science, and from 23rd to 21nd in math. Okay, so that last one is kind of… meh. Anyway, in recent years the government as undertaken sweeping reforms that focus on enhancing the professional development of the teachers as well as encouraging collaboration. Also, fun fact: the sheep population in New Zealand outnumbers the human population by a ratio of nearly 8:1. This has absolutely nothing to do with this article, but you can’t deny it’s mighty impressive.

9. The Netherlands

The Netherlands has a very unique system of education for which there is no counterpart. For instance, any individual or organization – private, public, religious – is allowed to open their own school and all receive equal amount of funding. Furthermore, they have complete autonomy over their hiring processes and are free to develop their own curriculum as long as they fulfill government guidelines and offer certain required subjects. They also have free, universal education starting at the age of 4. It has certainly paid off: students here rank 11th in the world in math and 15th in both reading and science.

8. Estonia

Considering that Estonia had a lot of catching up to do since declaring independence from the USSR in 1991, it’s remarkable that their system of education is not merely on par with the industrialized world, but in many cases is actually better. Compared to their EU counterparts, Estonia ranks tops in science, 2nd in math, and 3rd in reading. An important factor that has helped Estonia’s economy grow tenfold since gaining independence has been their focus on educating their youth in high-tech and high-skill fields. As a result, the country has become quite an IT hub.

7. Canada

Canadians might have silly accents, but their kids are pretty damn smart, ranking 2nd in the world in reading, 7th in science and 10th in math, according to recent figures. Much of the country’s success lies in how decentralized its system of education is, with the governments in each of the 10 provinces and 3 territories being responsible for curriculum development and determining education priorities that best suit their residents. What’s particularly interesting about academic achievement among students in Canada is that you won’t find much disparity in scores in terms of racial, ethnic or socioeconomic status, in contrast to their neighbors to the south.