russian education system vs american

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• Education at a Glance

Education at a Glance 2021

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Education at a Glance is the authoritative source for information on the state of education around the world. It provides data on the structure, finances and performance of education systems across OECD countries and a number of partner economies. More than 100 charts and tables in this publication – as well as links to much more available on the educational database – provide key information on the output of educational institutions; the impact of learning across countries; access, participation and progression in education; the financial resources invested in education; and teachers, the learning environment and the organisation of schools.

The 2021 edition includes a focus on equity, investigating how progress through education and the associated learning and labour market outcomes are impacted by dimensions such as gender, socio-economic status, country of birth and regional location. A specific chapter is dedicated to Target 4.5 of the Sustainable Development Goal 4 on equity in education, providing an assessment of where OECD and partner countries stand in providing equal access to quality education at all levels. Two new indicators on the mechanisms and formulas used to allocate public funding to schools and on teacher attrition rate complement this year's edition.

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• The State of Global Education
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Across most OECD countries, socio-economic status influences learning outcomes more than gender and immigrant status. In the Russian Federation, the proportion of children from the bottom quartile of the PISA index of economic, social and cultural status (ESCS) achieving at least PISA level 2 in reading in 2018 was 21% lower than that of children from the top ESCS quartile, a smaller share than the OECD average of 29%.

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16 Sept 2021

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How Are K-12 Schools Different In Russia (Compared To The U.S.)?

The question on how are K-12 schools different in Russia (Compared to the U.S.) can best be answered by looking at how they are basically structured and identifying their most distinct features. The policies on education of both countries as well as the education system control mechanisms in place at local and federal levels must then be compared. Although the structures of the educational system of both the US are similar in many ways, there are a few peculiarities that distinguish one from the other.

The American Education System

In the United States, there is no such thing as a national school system because the service of providing education to the public is decentralized. The American Constitution grants the exclusive power to craft and implement education policies to each of the states in the union. No national laws are enacted for the purpose of establishing a prescribed curriculum, the recognition of various professions and degrees, the legal status of faculty members and students, or institutional governance. The functions of the U.S. Education Department do not include them.

Creation and administration of education policy starts at the state and spills down to local and institutional levels. This includes laws on school safety and health, formulation of curriculum guidelines, creation and development of public education policies for both primary and secondary levels, appointment of boards and agencies to oversee the administration of public education, and others. The respective state legislature and state boards of education are usually responsible for developing policies on education that are implemented by the states' education departments.

Although state boards of the different states may have a lot of similarities in terms of their functions, and are composed of prominent citizens of the state, they may be formed in various ways. In some states, they are appointed by the governor or the legislative branch. In other states, they are selected by the people through general elections.

State boards in most states are responsible only up to the secondary level, while in some states, the responsibility extends to all levels of education. They perform oversight functions on educational policies. The state board (or the governor) appoints the state superintendent, the highest-ranking education official in the state who manages the day to day activities of the education department.

The Russian Education System

Unlike the U.S., Russia has a centralized education system the direction of which is determined by a specific national policy. Compulsory curriculum guidelines for all public schools are established and implemented by the "Federal Ministry of Education, Science, and Social Development." There are, however, some state-financed experiments that are being introduced such us bi-lingual schools that teach the students' native dialect. These initiatives are appreciated and allowed by the federal governors.

Although there are also government-initiated grants and programs such as those for talented and gifted students as well as those for differently-abled individuals, these efforts pale in comparison to those offered in the U.S. The Russian programs are also sometimes not properly disseminated because of lack of funding. U.S. government initiatives, in contrast are well-funded and popular in terms of information and availments.

Just like in the U.S., school choice is also provided in Russia although the initiative is less popularly known in the former Soviet republic. As opposed to the assignment by local school district on which schools children are placed based on residence, the educational reform on school choice gives parents the freedom for parents to enroll their kids in the school they prefer. Although Russian children are initially assigned the schools they should go to, they are now allowed to enroll elsewhere.

The education systems of both the U.S. and Russia were established based on tradition and historical background which explains some things that are unique in each of them. The systems evolve based on the current needs and conditions.

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Education system

Children's Education

The education system in Russia

Learn how to navigate the education system in Russia and choose the best option for your child with our helpful guide for expat parents.

By James Vick

Updated 13-8-2024

Important notice from the Editor in Chief

Maintaining our Russian site is a delicate matter during the war. We have chosen to keep its content online to help our readers, but we cannot ensure that it is accurate and up to date. Our team endeavors to strike the right balance between giving information to those who need it, and respecting the gravity of the situation.

Between public and private options and vocational and academic tracks, getting your head around education in Russia can seem complex. If the Russian schooling system is different from that of your home country, the process of choosing the right option for your child can also feel overwhelming.

However, with a little research and some preparation, navigating the education system in Russia can be a relatively seamless process. And this handy guide is here to help you avoid many of the pitfalls associated with enrolling your child in school in Russia. It includes the following:

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Studying in Russia: How Is Higher Education System Different?

No comments · Posted by Alex Smirnov in Education

Thinking about acquiring education in Russia? Though this country has never been a very popular destination for international students, times change. Today, studying in this country is an opportunity to get high-quality education for free or at a very affordable price.

But, what should one be prepared for when applying? There are a number of factors that make the Russian higher education system different from the US or European ones, and we’re here to tell you more!

Language of Instruction

Officially, the language of instruction in the country’s universities is Russian. This fact can turn into a significant stumbling point for international students.

Although many schools offer preparatory language courses to help international students acquire the skills they need to study in Russian, we have to say that this language can be extremely hard to learn. So, if you still decide to test your luck, be ready that you will need some extra help from a professional online essay writing service in order to keep your grades high.

One more thing we have to note is that it is possible to find English-taught programs in Russia. But, there are not too many of those. And, the majority of English-taught programs are available starting from the MA level.

Student Demographics

According to the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation, there were close to 4 million students in Russian higher education facilities at the end of 2020. And, according to the Institute of International Education (IEE) , the number of international students in the same year was 353,331. This is not a large share of the total number of students, especially if you compare it to the indicators of some well-known American and European universities that host a huge number of international students. However, the Russian education system has been pretty actively developing lately to invite more international students.

Higher Education System in Russia

Basically, in every higher education facility, an academic year is divided into two semesters. The first semester traditionally begins on September 1st and goes on to January 25th. Then students have their winter break. After the break, the second semester begins, and students come back on February 9th and continue studying till June 30th. All in all, the academic year lasts for ten months.

What about the finals? In the last month of every semester (i.e., in January and June), students have to take their term exams on the specific subjects they picked for their curriculum.

Now, let’s look closer at the system in general.

Types of Institutions

There are three types of higher education facilities in Russia:

• Universities. This type of institution provides training programs for students of all levels, including graduate, postgraduate, and continuing education.
• Academies. Another type of education facility also offers a wide range of programs for different academic levels. However, unlike universities, academies make a larger focus on developing students’ practical skills in a specific field (e.g., architecture, music, art, etc.) instead of just providing them with knowledge.
• Institutes. Finally, there are independent higher education facilities that are typically branches of larger universities or academies. Institutes offer professional education courses on a variety of disciplines.

Types of Degrees

Let us give you a quick overview of the different degree types that can be pursued in Russian universities:

• Bachelor’s or Specialist’s degree. The two lowest higher education degrees are Bachelor’s or Specialist’s degree. These can be pursued right upon completion of your secondary education. Typically, a Bachelor’s degree takes 4 years to complete, whereas a Specialist’s degree will take a minimum of 5 years to obtain. The core difference between these two types of degrees is that Bachelor’s provides general education, while a Specialist’s degree is more focused on practical experience. Both degrees qualify you to pursue an MA degree later.
• Master’s degree. The next step after a Specialist’s or Bachelor’s degree is a Master’s course. Typically, the duration of this course is two years, one of which is fully dedicated to practice, research, and preparation of a master’s thesis.
• Ph.D. and Doctoral. After graduating from a Master’s program, students can continue their studies by acquiring a Ph.D. degree and then the final Doctoral degree, which is the highest you can get.

Grading System

A significant difference between education in Russia and the US is a different grading system. Unlike habitual A through F letter grades that are used to evaluate students’ progress in American schools and colleges, higher education facilities in Russia use a five-point grading scale.

This grading system in Russian universities has been officially established since the middle of the nineteenth century. The scale is used to evaluate students’ work.

Basically, the five-point scale can be interpreted the following way:

Please note that in the Russian grading system, there are two grades that are considered unsatisfactory. Instead of a D grade, which is generally assumed to be passable, there are grades 1 and 2, which are basically the equivalents of an F grade. Receiving either 1 or 2 means that you didn’t pass. When students graduate, they only get grades from excellent to satisfactory in their college transcripts. Respectively, if you score any of the two lowest grades for a specific subject, you won’t be able to graduate.

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Changes in Educational Ideology and Format: 18th to 20th Century Practices

A Soviet poster describing the importance for all to be productive and help build new schools for the proletariat.

This research guide provides a launching point for further study into the topic of eduction in Russia, specifically focusing on the changes that occurred in education due to the transition from Imperial Russia to Bolshevik and Soviet Russia. The time period for this guide begins during the mid 19th century and follows through the mid 20th century. Education in Russia has always been closely associated with society for example it was an exclusive commodity during Imperial Russia when class barriers were firm but as class barrier were broken down during the Russian Revolution education became available to the masses through the Bolshevik ideal of universal education.

Education during Imperial Russia functioned as a means to limit the social mobility of many while it later would serve as a means of social enlightenment during Bolshevik and Soviet Russia. Official state treatment of education shifted with the economic, political, and military issues of each time period. Both Imperial Russia and Soviet Russia utilized education as a means of social control to promote a state agenda or create cohesion. This state approach towards education as a tool begins to demonstrate the complex relationship between state, educational institution, educator, student, and society. To understand the condition of education during these phases of Russian history illuminates the nature of society for the specific period.

Behind many of the major changes in education were state sponsored prerogatives. For example if one where to ask what form did change occur in the educational system? and why did this change occur? The answer would ultimately be tied into a goal or mission of the state. During the reign of Tsar Peter I, compulsory education was initiated as to enlighten and modernize Russian society due to the desire of Peter I to bring Russia out of the dark. Answering the perviously stated questions becomes increasingly difficult as the Bolsheviks and Soviet take power and reshape education. To explain the purpose of universal education one might conclude that it was inline with socialist values but further analysis into this change in educational practice demonstrates state use of education as a means to quell dissenters by creating social cohesion thus solidifying the socialist state.

While many of the educational changes that have occurred over time in Russia have been executed a state agenda there have also been many genuine attempts to reformat education for the good of society. During the late 17th centuryTsar Fyodor III valued education and felt compassion for the poor, he took action to create a school specifically for the poor resulting in the creation of  The Graeco-Latin-Slavic academy in Moscow. Later on during the mid to late 19th century Count Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy at the author of War and Peace , opened up his own schools for peasant. The schools he operated utilized organic learning which set them apart from the rigid form of education that was popular in Russia and Europe. The history of Russia education is a constant mixing between hopes and realities as visionaries of educational reform would find their ideas come to life but often to reach an alternative end decided on by external individual or group.

A compilation of sources have been collected on the history of Russian education, the changes of practice, format and ideology of Russia education, and the issues surrounding education at the time. Scholarly journal writings, historiographies, and primary sources make up the majority of the complied sources below. The works are organized under three topics; education during Tsarist Russia, education during early Revolutionary Russia, and Education during early Soviet Russia.

Education During Imperial Russia

Education was predominately exclusive, religious, and limited in length during Imperial Russia. No form of universal public education had yet been established leaving only those with financial means the ability to enroll in educational institutions at the secondary and university level. The gymnasium form of education adopted from Germany  provided greater accessibility to education for the elites which contributed to the growth of national culture but  also caused a polarization of the educated elite further separating the group from the majority of Russian society. Conservatism was a major theme of these schools both in curriculum and mission. Common curricula at the time focused on classical works, history, political theory, and economics. The common mission of these primary and secondary schools was to mold the student population into a cohesive, mild group that could not become radicalized and cause revolution like that seen in France in 1789. Universities proved a challenge for the Imperial Government and were never tamed due to the influence of intellectuals over the institutions.

Zaikonospassky Monastery that was transformed into the Slavic Greek Latin Academy

• Pipes, Richard.  Russia Under The Old Regime. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1974.

Richard Pipes provides an overview of education in Tsarist Russia in  Russia Under The Old Regime. He provides valuable insight as he highlights the relationships between peasant, clergy, elite and education. Pipes focuses on the reforms initiated by Peter I in regards to education. Under Peter I a system of mandatory education was created for all young men who upon state inspection would be either sent to school or sent off to service. Peter I had the goal of creating an educated Russian population but his reforms such as compulsory education/state service were some of the most despised of all of the reforms.

• Auty, Robert, and Obolensky, Dimitri.  An Introduction to Russian History: Companion to Russian studies. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1976.

Tsar Fyodor III

Tsar Fyodor III possessed an appreciation for Western Europe, this materialized through the creation of a Graeco-Latin-Slavic academy in Moscow. This academic institution was created specifically for the children of poorer classes. Peter I set up ‘cypher’ schools staffed by clergy as part of his compulsory education reform. These schools found little success due to the clergies’ inability to teach secular studies and the elite’s disapproval of mixing of social classes in schools. Other fear of rapid educational expansion most notability included the elite’s fear that a chaotic change of social order would occur. The push for mass education that came from Fyodor III and Peter I continued through the early 20th century increasing literacy from roughly 20% in 1897 to 44% in 1914.

• Freeze, Gregory L.  Russia: A History. New York: Oxford University Press: 2002.

Gregory Freeze writes extensively on the condition of Russia from the 16th century through the 20th century. He emphasis on transitions in Russia allows the reader to follow the changing education system. In 1667 Russia acquired the left bank of Ukraine bringing an influx of educated men into Russia promoting a new level of scholarship. While Peter I visited Western Europe he recruited experts from Europe, some of the most influential recruits were Joseph Nye, John Deane, John Perry, and Henry  Farquharson all who played a role in building Russia’s new navy. With plans drafted by Peter I, The Imperial Academy of Sciences opened in 1725 that would overtime solidify itself as a reputable institution of higher education in Russia.The Spiritual Regulations of 1721 required an educated, literate clergy to do so  a seminary system based on the Jesuit seminary system was adopted and common practice by the 1780s. Alexander I took on the challenge of providing higher education regardless of class for Russian by creating universities in Kharkov, Kazan, and St. Petersburg. The growth of education brought about two forces that would challenge imperialism: nationalism and the desire for participation in politics. During the late 1920s of Russia measures were taken to remove privileged groups from higher education replacing them with working class groups.

• Thaden, Edward.  Conservative Nationalism in Nineteenth-Century Russia. Seattle: University of Washington Press,1964.

Conservatism in 19th century Russia can be equated with the phrase Autocracy, Orthodoxy, and Nationality. A major proponent of this conservative push in 19th century Russia was Admiral Alexander Shishkov. Shishkov would influence Russia through his work as Minister of Public Instruction. His attempt to promote Autocracy, Orthodoxy, and Nationality took the form of educating the upper class of Russia to create social cohesion and moral strength for Russia. To do so he worked to replace educational institutions of non-Russian origin (Polish and Catholic) with truly Russian educational institutions. Edward Thaden professor of Russian studies at Pennsylvania State University chronicles the growth of conservatism in 19th century Russia in his work  Conservative Nationalism in Nineteenth-Century Russia . His focus towards education during this period of increased conservatism provides a useful timeline of the evolution of education under Tsarist Russia. His use of officials, scholars, and radicals provides a multitude of angles to view this period of change.

• Ringlee, Andrew.  The Instruction of Youth in Late Imperial Russia: Vospitanie in the Cadet School and Classical Gymnasium, 1863-1894 . University of North Carolina, 2010.

During the final years of Imperial Russia two starkly contrasting groups of students were produced from the state sponsored schools run by the Ministry of War and by the Ministry of Education. Military cadet schools were run by the Ministry of War while the civilian gymnasium was run by the Ministry of education. Graduates of military cadet schools remained loyal their alma mater years after the collapse of Imperial Russia while graduates of the civilian gymnasium typically renounced former educators and schools. Andrew Ringlee compares the educational methods utilized by the Ministry of War and Ministry of Education during the reigns of Alexander II and Alexander III to understand how participants experienced the two types of institution. An electronic copy if this work can be found  h ere .

• Alston, Patrick L.  Education and the State of Tsarist Russia. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1969.

Education under Tsarist Russia progressed through several stages growing in sophistication and autonomy. Peter I brought major changes to the educational system of Russia introducing a new sense of enlightenment to the institutions of education. Towards the late 19th century educators began to push back against the grip of the state on education. These efforts for greater autonomy and legitimacy would become engrained values in educators that would remain through the Russian Revolution. This progression can be seen through Patrick Alston’s work  Education and the State in Tsarist Russia. Alston takes a chronological approach to depict the relationship between education and the state beginning in the 18th century through 1914. He divides his book to demonstrate the gradual but present growth of the influence of educators in Tsarist Russia.

• Brower, Daniel R.  Training the nihilists: education and radicalism in Tsarist Russia . Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1975.

Daniel Brower’s Flow Chart of Radicalism

Daniel Brower’s work  Training the Nihilists: Education and Radicalism in Tsarist Russia explains the role of formal education in the creation and evolution of radicalism in Russia during the mid to late 19th century. The book is broken up into chapters that focus at first on the smaller groups in Russian society like family and then places focus on larger groups concluding with a newly established society of dissenters. Dissent was a key ingredient in Russia during the late 19th century and early 20th century, this book aims at answering where this dissent came from. Two features of Brower’s work that are most helpful in gaining an understanding of dissent in Russia are survey date from 1840-1870s revealing the level of education for Russian radicals and a flow chart of the development of Russian radicals between 1840-1870.

• Kassow, Samuel D.  Students, Professors, and the State in Tsarist Russia . Berkeley: University of California Press, 1989.

Early 20th century Russia was a period of full of different groups functioning as political actors influencing the nature of the Russian state. In  Students, Professors, and the State in Tsarist Russia, Samuel Kassow focuses on the interactions of students, universities, and professors with the state. Kassow shows that failure of the tsarist Russian state to recognize the legitimacy of student movements based out of Russian universities. Officials of the state had to find a balance between limiting social unrest produced from universities and educational institutions while not completely crushing education as it was recognized the need for an increase of educated laborers. Professors and the Russian government clashed in ideological purpose for universities. Professors saw universities as models of free research and academic freedom while the government saw the establishment as utilitarian in purpose, raising proper civil servants. An electronic copy of the work can be found  here .

• Seregny, Scott.  Russian Teachers and Peasant Revolution . Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 1989.

Scott Seregny questions the notion of rural teachers as meek, humble, isolated figures in late 19th century Russia.Using accounts of rural teachers, students, and town officials he reveals that rural teachers while late the blossoming period of professionalism in Russia held particular power in organizing an All-Russian Teacher’s Union with strong political aims. To combat this perception of educators, Russian educators became a politically active minority pushing against the Old Regime of the Tsar. Russian teachers like other professions during the late 19th century and early 20th century desired self-definition and became aware that their desires could not be achieved in the current Tsarist system. The climax of the rural teachers’ political efforts occurred in 1905 with the 1905 Revolution but quickly faded with the passing of the year. Seregny dives into the low levels of respect towards rural teachers due to low pay, modest origins, and high levels of bureaucracy.

• Walker, Franklin A. “Enlightenment and Religion in Russian Education in the Reign of Tsar Alexander I.”  History of Education Quarterly , Vol. 32, No. 3 (Autumn, 1992), pp. 343-360.

Tsar Alexander I sought to educate his countrymen through a plan to expand public education drafted by Catherine II. The initial aim of this expansion of public education in Imperial Russia was to instill enlightenment ideals in the people of Russia but after the threats created during the Napoleonic wars these aims shifted to creating an obedient, moral society to prevent rebellion. During the years after the French Revolution many blamed a lack of religion as the cause of the Reign of Terror during the French Revolution. Franklin A. Walker investigates the balance of religion and enlightenment in education under the reign of Tsar Alexander the I. The need for obedience reinforced the role of religion in education even as ideals of the enlightenment became increasingly popular in education resulting in unique approach to education. An electronic copy of the article can be accessed  here .

• Stillings, Renee. The School of Russian and Asian Studies, “Public Education In Russia from Pete I to the Present.” Last modified December 8, 2005.

Renee Stillings offers a short history of Russian education from the 18th century to the present. Her work provides basic foundational knowledge that aids in later developing a larger understanding of the complexities of the Russia’s educational system. The webpage can be accessed  here .

• Brooks, Jeffery. When Russia Learned to Read . (Evanston: Northwestern University Press, 2003), 54.

With the end of serfdom in Russia came an explosion of peasant desires for education. Jeffery Brooks presents the growth of peasant education during the late 19th century in his work  When Russia Learned to Read . The basic components of education are covered including schools, teachers and curriculum. One of the most significant aspect of the work is Brooks’ analysis on the effects of peasant literacy, concluding the with greater amounts of literacy, the peasantry grew curious and ambitious, desiring a different life compared to their parents.

• Souder, Eric M. The School of Russian and Asian Studies, “Tolstoy’s Peasant Schools at Yasnaya Polyana.” Last modified November 18, 2010.

Count Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy serves as a example of an early education reformer in Tsarist Russia. Eric M. Souder provides information of Tolstoy’s efforts in education in the article “Tolstoy’s Peasant Schools at Yasnaya Polyana”. Tolstoy became upset with the format of education in Russia and Europe during the mid 19th century as he saw that it was not organic enough and non-conducive to learning. This belief mixed with sympathy for the peasant class of Russia provided Tolstoy the inspiration to form his own school in Yasnaya Polyana. His curriculum expanded further beyond traditional subjects to areas like singing, drafting, and Russian history. Souder’s thorough depiction of Tolstoy’s work in education reveals the attitudes surrounding education and the condition of education during Tsarist Russia. This webpage can be accessed  here .

• Tolstoy, Lev.  The Complete Works of Count Tolstoy: Pedagogical articles; Linen-measurer. Boston: Dana Estes & Company, 1904.

Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy

During his efforts to increase education for Russian peasants, Count Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy published several works on what he believed the be improvements in the field of education that would benefit Russia and in particular the peasants. He compared educational systems around the world to form his own ideal educational system that he asserted would serve Russia better than the current system. The comparative work conducted by Tolstoy was highly critical of the rigid and at times exclusive nature of European educational system. The American public educational system functioned as the embodiment of the ideal of mass education that Tolstoy strove for in Russia. The works of Tolstoy demonstrate a growing disapproval of the current system of education under the Tsars that would later erupt during the Russian Revolution. Many of the concepts put forth in his works would later emerge in experimental Bolshevik schools during the 1920s. The complete compilation of Tolstoy’s works can be found  here .

• McClelland, James C.  Autocrats and Academics: Education, Society, and Culture in Tsarist Russia .Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1979.

Inequality in the in quality and accessibility of education during Tsarist Russia is the thematic center of James C. McClelland’s work  Autocrats and Academics: Education, Society, and Culture in Tsarist Russia. He asserts that the adoption of educational techniques like the gymnasium from German schools allowed for the development of a national culture but at the expense of widening the gap between social classes. The elite nature of secondary schools and universities during Tsarist Russia produced an intelligentsia that would be disconnected from the majority of Russian society in terms of level of education. This work reveals Tsarist relations with elite education, the pedagogy of elite academic institutions, and student activism.

Education During Early Revolutionary Russia

Revolution provided many educational reformers a time to shine and bring their experimental schools to reality. New educational ideologies and practices were incorporated into schools as new schools were established to provided education to the masses while others were created specifically for groups like proletariats or peasants. The formal curricula of these schools varied greatly due to many schools that were self administered by faculty and that evolutionary nature of education during Revolutionary Russia that constantly updated and shifted. Emphasis shifted from one area to another the focus one year may be instilling socialist ideals in student and in following years the focus may shift to science and technology.

• Pipes, Richard.  Russia Under the Bolshevik Regime. New York: Vintage Books, 1995.

Anatolii Lunacharskii

Richard Pipe enables readers of   Russia Under the Bolshevik Regime to follow the systematic changes in education brought about by the Bolsheviks through a detailed chronology of educational change. Vladimir Lenin along with Anatolii Lunacharskii defined the mission for all educational institutions as to raise a new group of human beings superior in culture and intelligence. In 1909 an experimental Bolshevik school was established in Capri with help from Maxim Gorky and Fedor Shaliapin. The goal of this school was to created cadres of educated workers who would then assimilate with the rest of workers to spread their recently acquired knowledge. Lenin was a major opponent to this school because he did not believe that workers possessed the creativity needed for the creation of a new society. Soviet Russia viewed education as  vospitanie, meaning upbringing in that  education should serve as a means of developing a society of virtuous beings. The key emphasis of this education was science and technology to set the foundations for a technologically advanced Soviet Russia. By 1918 all education became nationalized under the authority of the Commissariat of Enlightenment. A new education system was established leading to a concise pathway from kindergarten to university. While this was a major change other radical philosophies like the establishment of farm and communal worker schools never came to fruition due to fiscal constraints.

• Gleason, Abbott, Kenez, Peter, and Stites, Richard.  Bolshevik culture: experiment and order in the Russian Revolution . Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1985.

Lenin recognized the need for a long term educational process, teaching the themes of socialism and political consciousness to society in order to build a socialist society. In  Bolshevik culture: experiment and order in the Russian Revolution, education is described as a tool of the Bolsheviks to mold Russia.  One means of mass education was printing of propaganda pamphlets but many simply could not read and those who could read responded to the state produced material with disgust. During the Provisional Government, soviet representatives attacked the Ministry of Education for excessive amounts of bureaucracy, lack of progress to increase literacy, failure to increase the status of teachers, and failure to update curriculums to incorporate revolutionary culture. A means of effective communication with the masses came with the popularization of cinema. Authorities were able to produce revolutionary teachings without any words at all through the medium of cinema.

• Rosenberg, William. Bolshevik Vision: First Phase of the Cultural Revolution . (Ann Arbor: Ardis Publishers, 1984), 287.

The Bolshevik ideology is broken down into several sections of society in William Rosenberg’s work  Bolshevik Vision: First Phase of the Cultural Revolution.  His descriptive writing allows for a vivid depiction of Bolshevik ideology. A section of book titled “United Labor Schools: The Nature of a Communist Education” covers the topics of primary, secondary, and higher education with great detail. Several different school models are described at the primary and secondary level including the United Labor School, the factory school, and the polytechnic school. Higher education is also covered as the nationalization of universities is chronicled, exposing great resistance from the professorate against Lunacharsky’s reforms.

• Fitzpatrick, Sheila.  The Cultural Front. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1992.

Sheila Fitzpatrick writes on the cultural revolution in Russia by observing the many dynamic groups and forces that transitioned revolutionary Russia to conservative Stalinist Russia. In her work she analytically depicts the troubles faced by the Bolsheviks in establishing a new education system for the newly created socialist society. The two chapters, ‘Professors and Soviet Power’ and ‘Sex and Revolution’ in  The Cultural Front provide deep insight into the struggle for power in education in the new socialist society as intelligentsia were initially removed from education by replaced with frequency. The chapter ‘Sex and Revolution’ uses student health surveys to demonstrate the attitudes of proletariat workers in educational institutions. These attitudes included aversion towards bourgeois professors, apathy towards bookwork, and conservative sexual relationships with peers.

• McClelland, James. “Bolshevik Approaches to Higher Education, 1917-1921.”  Slavic Review . no. 4 (1971): 818-831.

During the years 1917 to 1921 the Bolshevik government faced multiple military threats from Imperial Germany, White Russian armies, and movements for national independence. Despite the numerous amount of issues at hand the Bolshevik government was still able to devote time and energy to  the revolutionary agenda including educational reform. James McClelland researches three major experimental education systems during this revolutionary period.The first of these initiatives was under the authority of Narkompros which aimed to increase accessibility to higher education, increase enrollment of working class students, and utilize a Marxist agenda. Economic, military, and political strains of the Civil War forced the Bolshevik government to approach educational reform from another angle. The new route to reform in education centered on the vocationalization of education and militarization of students. With the New Economic Plan came a third form of educational reform. This third plan sought to centralize higher education under the authority of the government. McClelland focuses on the relationships between the Bolshevik government and the professors of universities to reveal the complex nature of higher education in revolutionary Russia.  An electronic copy of McClelland’s work can be accessed  here .

• Rosenberg, William. Bolshevik Visions: The First Phase of the Cultural Revolution in Soviet Russia. Michigan: Ardis Publishers, 1984.

The drive and enthusiasm Anatoly Vasilyevich Lunacharsky possessed during the early period of Bolshevik Russia is capture in William Rosenberg’s work Bolshevik Visions: The First Phase of the Cultural Revolution in Soviet Russia. The work provides a detailed introduction into aims of a new Soviet school that would break away from all of the pervious bourgeois educational institutions. Factory Schools and United Labor Schools were the educational platform set out by Lunacharsky who was eager to aid in creating the new soviet citizen. The work then continues with several speeches by Lunacharsky including his 1918 “Speech to the First All-Russian Congress on Education”, “Basic Principles of the United Labor School”, and “Students and Counter-revolution”. Each of these writings from Lunacharsky show a genuine conviction to change society through education to create an entirely different culture.

• Finkel, Stuart.  On the Ideological Front : The Russian Intelligentsia and the Making of the Soviet Public Sphere. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2008.

Higher education proved to be one of the last institutions to fall to the control of the Soviets as remnants of the intellectuals’ authority remained. The final push came from the “harsh line” mentality towards universities in that all bourgeois figures and institutions must be removed. Narkompros and Anatoly Lunacharsky contributed to the state seizure of higher education by advising the Party Central Committee of the need to reform higher education. In the way of this desired change was Valdimir Lenin, he believed that there was no need for the immediate take over of universities as the proletariat did not need a high level of education. Lenin’s stance towards higher education was replaced by the “harsh line” when in 1921 a committee was established to discuss reforms of universities.

Education During Early Soviet Russia

As the Bolshevik and Soviet control of Russia solidified came an increased need to maintain this current state and to promote state ideologies. Education became a necessity for the proletariat as the need for an educated proletariat was announced by the state. This period of educational development face a multitude of challenges as the student body rapidly changed from elites to proletariat and peasant students. To extend mass education to proletariat and peasant students by giving these groups preference into secondary schools and universities would lower the standard of education which then would result in the product of a workforce that has received a mediocre education. Educational institutions took the form of vocational schools that set students up for higher education aiming to produce an educated workforce like that never seen before in Russian history. A major problem for educational reforms during this period was parental attitudes towards education as many parents felt that the recently deposed form of education that focused on reading, writing, and arithmetic was proper in curriculum.

• Lipset, Harry. “Education of Moslems in Tsarist and Soviet Russia.”  Comparative Education Review . no. 3 (1968): 310-322.

A major shift occurred in the treatment of Muslims in Russia from the Imperial state to Revolutionary and Soviet Russia. Discrimination of minorities during Imperial Russia was commonplace and left Muslims in Russia with insufficient and inadequate education. This limited education for Muslims was improved during Revolutionary and Soviet Russia due to the socialist ideal of universal education. Harry Lipset covers this topic in “Education of Moslems in Tsarist and Soviet Russia”, contrasting the condition of Muslim education under Tsarist Russia and post-Tsarist Russia. To add depth to his work he analyzes the official treatment of other minorities such as Ukrainians and Armenians under each government. Lipset asserts that Muslims were able to make large advances in culture and education through the socialist ideals introduced through the collapse of Imperial Russia. An electronic copy of the article can be accessed  here .

• Fitzpatrick, Sheila.   The Commissariat of Enlightenment; Soviet Organization of Education and the Arts Under Lunacharsky, October 1917-1921 . Cambridge: University Press, 1970.

The Narkompros was Soviet commission on enlightenment tasked with creating and improving art and education in the newly formed socialist Russia.  Sheila Fitzpatrick devotes several chapters to the reformation of education under the authority of the Soviet. Anatoly Vasilyevich Lunacharsky, the commissar of Narkompros set out a multitude of doctrines and declarations that would shape the new educational system in the socialist society. For example, one Lunacharsky’s declarations set up primary and secondary schools so that teachers left to their own devices to organize and operate schools. Fitzpatrick’s work provides a vivid chronology of educational changes that occurred due to the influence of Narkompros.

Education for the Proletariat: To produce more you need to know more.

• Levin, Deana. Soviet Education Today. New York: Monthly Review Press, 1963.

Deana Levin approaches education in the Soviet Union using the historical background of the Russia since 1917. Unlike other works on Soviet education, Soviet Education Today does not compare Soviet education with American education but rather researches the aims and methods of the system. To explain how the Soviet educational system works Levin uses official documents and statements swell as personal observations from trips to the U.S.S.R. where interviews with students, educators, and administrators were conducted. Further insight is provided from Levin’s experience as a school teacher in Moscow for five years before the outbreak of World War Two.

• Fitzpatrick, Sheila. Education and Social Mobility in the Soviet Union 1921-1934. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1979.

One of the most comprehensive works on education in socialist Russia,  Education and Social Mobility in the Soviet Union 1921-1934 by Sheila Fitzpatrick provides a wealth of knowledge on the changing educational system in Russia between 1917 and 1934. Her work covers a large spectrum from ideological changes in education to the salaries of educators. The book is structured in a chronological format to follow the new socialist Russian state as it develops and changes. Although a larger variety of topics are covered in her work, Sheila Fitzpatrick centers her writing on education as a means of social mobility in the newly created socialist society.

• Bereday, ed. The Changing Soviet School . Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1960.

The Changing Soviet School provides a wealth of information on education in Russia with chapters devoted to major phases of Russian history beginning with Tsarist Russia and concluding with the Soviet Union. The claims presented in the work are supported by the research of 70 American researchers who visited and toured soviet schools, universities, collective farms, and industrial plants in 1958. To provide complete research of the evolution of education in the U.S.S.R. the book presents education during Tsarist Russia, Revolutionary Russia, and the Soviet Union. The work is divided into three sections that all provide detailed insight into Russia education. Part one focuses on ideological, social, historical, and philosophical characteristics of Russian education to analyze pedagogy. Part two describes the formal institutions of preschool, primary school, secondary school, and university inquiring as to what content was taught, how content was taught, and how teachers were trained. Part three questions the universal nature of universal education by studying marginal groups like talented and handicapped students. The purpose of the work is twofold, first two provide  a detailed image of the Soviet educational system and second to illuminate similarities between the Soviet system with the American educational system.

• Gorsuch, Anne E.  Youth in Revolutionary Russia: Enthusiasts, Bohemians, Delinquents . Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2000.

Anne Gorsuch looks into the experiences of youth in Russia during the New Economic Policy. The economic challenges created by NEP left many children with no adult supervision when returning home from school. This situation caused largely by NEP resulted in limited many children to only four years of education before joining their parents in some form of work. Education for girls during this period was seen as too expensive so many parents kept daughters at home to work in the house and help raise younger children. Gorsuch provides insight into the role of gender in education for Russian youth for example,  out of every one hundred days, males had 230 free hours and the females just 169.27. In addition to the role of gender in education she also provides important analysis of the influence of experimental forms of education. Entrance exams from secondary schools and universities demonstrated that students being taught at experimental schools were politically illiterate due to the ineffectiveness of the educators of these experimental institutions. These failures resulted in a relapse in curriculum from social behavior education to traditional history, economics, and political theory.

Scenes of Soviet Education from 1921:

Three communist Dutch school teachers went to Russia to observe the labor schools that had been created in the recently reformed Russia. They observed schools that taught toddlers up to adolescents. In these schools children were taught how to develop photographs, how to spin fabrics, how to use printing presses, how to work in a saw mill, and how to work in a laboratory. Each of the Dutch researchers wrote small biographies that can be found below. The observations of these three socialist educators serves as a gateway into the minds of socialist education.

Jan Cornelis Ceton

Jan Cornelis Ceton : Opposed book oriented education. Favored taking students for nature walks to embrace the world. He opposed Christian education as it only served as a means of maintaing the current social order. He saw no need for administration in education as it created authoritarian figures. In 1919 he co-founded the Communist Teachers Association. He published several works on new education in socialist journals such as The New Era, two of these works are listed below. Both of these works demonstrate Ceton’s desire to incorporate socialist values into the education system in Holland and later around the world.

Ceton, Jan Cornelis. “ Free school or compulsory state school” The New Era , (1902): 37-51, 109-121.

Ceton, Jan Cornelis. “Social Democracy and Education ” The New Era , (1913): 875 – 889.

Jan Cornelis Stam

Jan Cornelis Stam : Born in 1884 he grew up in a Calvinist family that placed heavy emphasis on education. He attended school at Sliedrecht, in South Holland where he was exposed to socialist values from some of his peers and teachers. He began teaching in 1903 and would later join the Social Democrat Party in 1909. He worked as an editor of the party newspaper The Tribune writing on socialist values in education and the neutral or co-ed school.

Wiliemse Willjbrecht

Willemse Wiljbrecht : A school teacher in Amsterdam from 1925 to 1940. Beginning in 1932 onward Willemse was a major figure in the creation and workings of the Marxist Worker Schools. She worked at Montessori Training for Teachers in Utrecht from 1940-1941. Willemse worked as the  editor of Montessori Education from 1939 -1956.  Many of her works were published in Renewal of Education and Montessori Education.

Wiljbrecht, Willemse. “ Our Children Will Be Our Judges ”

Below are scenes captured by Jan Cornelis Ceton, Jan Cornelis Stam, and Wilemse Willjbrecht during their travels to the Russia during 1921. These images expose  the experimental nature of education during revolutionary Russia as students can be seen playing sports, acting in plays, and even chopping wood.

• Ceton, Jan. and Stam, Jan, and Wiljbrecht, Willemse. Soviet Education 1921. The International Institute of Social History. Accessed October 25, 2013.

Education During the Mid 20th Century Soviet Union

• Benton, William.  Teachers and the Taught in the U.S.S.R. Kingsport: Kingsport Press, 1965.

Serving as a detailed analysis of Soviet education, William Benton’s  Teachers and the Taught in the U.S.S.R covers specific areas such as film in education and the structuring of primary and secondary schools. Research from Benton’s 1964 trip to Moscow serves as the data for the majority of his book. The work uses a narrow lens in addressing Soviet education by focusing on particular areas and should be read as a supplement to works that take on the topic of Soviet education from a wider angle.

• Matthews, Mervyn.  Education in the Soviet Union. London: University of Surrey, 1982.

Nikita Khrushchev

With the changing of leadership in the Soviet Union would come changes, some transitions would bring more change than others. In  Education in the Soviet Union, Mervyn Matthews compares education under the administration of Nikita Khrushchev and Leonid Brezhnev. His comparison focuses on general education, technical schools, and higher education looking into characteristics like teachers’ attitudes, student well-being, and problems in administration. Much of this works looks into the societal shifts that occurred after Joseph Stalin’s death.

• Grant, Nigel.  Soviet Education. New York: Penguin Books, 1979.

A brief overview of education in the U.S.S.R. during the 1960s can be found in Nigel Grant’s  Soviet Education. In his work he aims to present the educational system of the Soviet Union using first hand accounts of students and professor from the U.S.S.R. to supplement statistical information, official documents, and scholarly journals. He presents the general characteristics of primary, secondary, and higher education covering ideology, structure, staffing of schools, and discipline. Grant draws connections to other educational systems from other nations in his description of the workings of Soviet education.

• Boston University
• Simon Rabinovitch
• Guided History
• History Department

AttemptInGelegance

Education in the USA

What is the main difference between the American school and the Russian one?

Let’s compare the school systems of Russia and the United States.

In Russia, all students study the same courses and are given clearly defined hours for subjects. While the US system is aimed at individual education, children in the US choose their own subjects and learn what they are really interested in, while in Russia they are only creating profile classes.

There are pros and cons to both systems of education. The American school system has a lot of different benefits that should be incorporated into the Russian education model: In middle &amp; high schools, the selection of subjects and freedom to teach in a variety of ways influence not only students but teachers too. Without uniforms, each student is given the freedom to dress however they want as well as store personal items in lockers. Schools are then a healthy place with libraries and cafeterias that are open for all pupils. But the Russian school also has its advantages: a more lenient system of absenteeism and lateness, a shorter period of study, and the opportunity to receive a compulsory education not at school, but at college.

Studying proccess

The relationship between teachers and students depends on the norms and rules, the culture of communication in society as a whole, and in the charter of a particular school. In Russia, teachers can have either a formal hierarchical relationship with students where they have total control over them and everything in the class; or it can be an informal environment where students are like family and all personal boundaries are eliminated. One of the teachers is balancing in the middle and yet, the idea that he’s simply obliged to teach everyone is strong jamp; definitely a moral duty – if the student isn’t taught a subject then teaching him can be a real challenge.

In the US, the relationship between schoolchildren and teachers is formal: everyone communicates with each other respectfully and in a friendly manner, but in a businesslike way. A distance is maintained between them: the teacher must create all the conditions for learning and guide the student. They provide knowledge and teach many practical skills: how to find the right information and work with it, how to understand and defend your point of view. If a child is not given an object, they take it calmly: if the child needs it, he or she will have motivation.

People in the US tend to prefer the 5-point system over the 5-letter one. For example, A would equal “fantastic” and E would correspond to “terrible.” Teachers often substitute F for E because it stands for “everything is fine.”

But if you think the system of student assessments is inflexible, keep in mind that this would never occur to a single teacher in US schools. They are very careful to always keep individual assessment separate from public judgement. You have to keep all assessments, whether praise or criticism, virtual. Voice assessments are all private and others would think it’s a violation of privacy.

How is a US high school organized?

High school in the USA is grades 6, 7 and 8. This will be located in a separate building and combined from 3 to 5 elementary schools. There will be approximately 1,000 students going to high school while there was an average of 250-300 students per elementary school. Each school has its own stadium and many additional sports fields.

The distribution in middle school is based on residence. The students go to the nearest one to their home.

5th grade is not just about school stuff; kids are building up to the transition to secondary school over here. In 5th grade, children start to prepare their minds for the more serious workload they’ll have in a few years’ time.

About items

In the US, there are compulsory subjects that are needed in order to receive a high school diploma. These are mathematics, sciences (chemistry, physics, biology, etc.), English / literature, history / law / economics, and physical education. At our school we offer all the standard subjects at three levels: basic, high, and university (IB). If you want to continue your studies post-secondary, university or college, a high school diploma is usually required. If you have good marks in your high school classes, then these will be accepted as transfer credits; if not, then it’s recommended that you take the introductory level classes from your desired program at the new institution before moving onto more advanced ones. Assignment to a different class can happen when the student and their parents sign off on it, followed by approval from the school counselor.

About homework

Middle and high school aged students are required to complete long-term assignments that take up to several weeks. They learn how to understand sources, obtain information, and create quality content.

A few years ago, a thesis was introduced for high school students, which the child writes for a full year. 11th grade students collaborate with their teacher to come up with a topic that is socially significant. One of the benefits of working in an office is that you’ll be able to teach your kids valuable skills they can use at the university; their ability to find and choose information, find specialists &amp; properly allocate resources.

Prestige of schools

In Russia, good and bad schools are formed quite chaotically:whether it be an energetic teacher opening a new elective course and attracting all the surrounding nerds, or the head teacher-tyrant turning physical education into an passion that attracts all the smart people who can’t pull themselves up on the horizontal bar. At the same time, all local schools are financed from the general budget. It’s good that you can always send your child to a school in another area, where we seem to have stronger mathematics classes.

In the US, you are unable to go to a school other than your place of residence. The school is funded by the local budget and it draws funds from the residents’ taxes. In a prestige school, the teachers are specially selected and earn a high salary. Parents of students tend to have similar incomes and the prices of homes in the area are also high.

School life

With the use of long-term desks, Russian children have a decade-long opportunity to grow up with their friends and form deep bonds. Sharing a desk for 10 years also gives them time to form biases and make new friends if necessary. Given what team members go through during that 10-year period, it’s easy to see why long-term desks are so important. Frequently, parents and their children face difficult times due to conflict at school. Teachers often don’t get involved in these disputes.

For many years, only one teacher can teach a subject in the same class, and parents don’t like it when teachers constantly change. Indeed, this practice allows you to track the results of the teacher’s work and the children themselves get used to a certain teaching style.

In the US, teachers change every year if the student chooses different subjects, and the composition of the group in the classroom also varies depending on who signed up for these subjects that year. Everyone learns to communicate respectfully with each other, regardless of the environment: bullying and rudeness are nipped in the bud by teachers.

In our country, we have correctional schools, boarding schools, or separate classes for children with physical or psychological disabilities.

Practical measures are gradually being introduced in America to realize the principle “everyone has a right to education.” For example, regular classes include hearing-impaired children, autistic children and schoolchildren who use wheelchairs or have Down syndrome. Shared teachers talk about how we’re all different and special individuals. If needed, the school has an extra adult assistant to help a child adapt, or meet him in break time. If you come to the US for work or school, your child will be enrolled in school and taught English if they’re not fluent. It’s guaranteed under law that visitors’ children have equal access to education as Americans.

There will be no easy answer to the question of which education system is better, and everyone must decide for themselves which approach is closer and more comfortable for them.

Education Stats : compare key data on Russia & United States

• Country Info
• Russia vs. United States

Definitions

• Children out of school, primary : Children out of school, primary. Out-of-school children of primary school age. Total is the total number of primary-school-age children who are not enrolled in either primary or secondary schools.
• Children out of school, primary per 1000 : Children out of school, primary. Out-of-school children of primary school age. Total is the total number of primary-school-age children who are not enrolled in either primary or secondary schools. Figures expressed per thousand population for the same year.
• Children out of school, primary, female : Children out of school, primary, female. Out-of-school children of primary school age. Female is the total number of female primary-school-age children who are not enrolled in either primary or secondary schools.
• College and university > Gender parity index : Country's gender parity index for college and university enrollment. For countries with a rating of over 1, more females are enrolled while countries with a rating under 1 have more males enrolled.
• College and university > Share of total education spending : Percentage of government education funding that goes to post-secondary education.
• Compulsary education duration : Number of years students are required to be enrolled in school for all levels of education. For instance, compulsary education lasts for 12 years in the United States.
• Government spending on education > Proportion of GDP : Percentage of public funding for education out of country's total GDP.
• Homeschooling legal status : Legal status of homeschooling.
• Literacy > Female : This entry includes a definition of literacy and Census Bureau percentages for the total population, males, and females. There are no universal definitions and standards of literacy. Unless otherwise specified, all rates are based on the most common definition - the ability to read and write at a specified age. Detailing the standards that individual countries use to assess the ability to read and write is beyond the scope of our source. Information on literacy, while not a perfect measure of educational results, is probably the most easily available and valid for international comparisons.
• Literacy > Total population : This entry includes a definition of literacy and Census Bureau percentages for the total population, males, and females. There are no universal definitions and standards of literacy. Unless otherwise specified, all rates are based on the most common definition - the ability to read and write at a specified age. Detailing the standards that individual countries use to assess the ability to read and write is beyond the scope of our source. Information on literacy, while not a perfect measure of educational results, is probably the most easily available and valid for international comparisons.
• Primary education, duration > Years : Primary education, duration (years). Duration of primary is the number of grades (years) in primary education.
• Primary education, teachers per 1000 : Primary education, teachers. Teaching staff in primary. Public and private. Full and part-time. All programmes. Total is the total number of teachers in public and private primary education institutions. Teachers are persons employed full time or part time in an official capacity to guide and direct the learning experience of pupils and students, irrespective of their qualifications or the delivery mechanism, i.e. face-to-face and/or at a distance. This definition excludes educational personnel who have no active teaching duties (e.g. headmasters, headmistresses or principals who do not teach) and persons who work occasionally or in a voluntary capacity in educational institutions. Figures expressed per thousand population for the same year.
• Pupil-teacher ratio, primary : Pupil-teacher ratio, primary. Pupil-teacher ratio. Primary is the number of pupils enrolled in primary school divided by the number of primary school teachers.
• Pupil-teacher ratio, secondary : Pupil-teacher ratio, secondary. Pupil-teacher ratio. Secondary is the number of pupils enrolled in secondary school divided by the number of secondary school teachers.
• Secondary education, duration > Years : Secondary education, duration (years). Duration of secondary education is the number of grades (years) in secondary education (ISCED 2 & 3).
• Children out of school, primary, female per 1000 : Children out of school, primary, female. Out-of-school children of primary school age. Female is the total number of female primary-school-age children who are not enrolled in either primary or secondary schools. Figures expressed per thousand population for the same year.
• College and university > Gender ratio : Ratio of female to male tertiary enrollment is the percentage of men to women enrolled at tertiary level in public and private schools.
• Child care (preschool) > Duration : Number of years students study at the pre-primary (preschool) level. It should be noted that not all countries require pre-primary education.
• Secondary education > Teachers > Per capita : Secondary education teachers includes full-time and part-time teachers. Per capita figures expressed per 1,000 population.
• Duration of compulsory education : Duration of compulsory education is the number of grades (or years) that a child must legally be enrolled in school.
• Secondary education, pupils : Secondary education, pupils. Enrolment in total secondary. Public and private. All programmes. Total is the total number of students enrolled at public and private secondary education institutions.
• College and university > Private school share : Percentage of post-secondary students who attend a private school, college, or university.
• Primary education, teachers : Primary education, teachers. Teaching staff in primary. Public and private. Full and part-time. All programmes. Total is the total number of teachers in public and private primary education institutions. Teachers are persons employed full time or part time in an official capacity to guide and direct the learning experience of pupils and students, irrespective of their qualifications or the delivery mechanism, i.e. face-to-face and/or at a distance. This definition excludes educational personnel who have no active teaching duties (e.g. headmasters, headmistresses or principals who do not teach) and persons who work occasionally or in a voluntary capacity in educational institutions.
• Primary education, pupils : Primary education, pupils. Enrolment in primary. Public and private. All programmes. Total is the total number of students enrolled in public and private primary education institutions.
• Tertiary enrollment : Gross enrolment ratio, tertiary level is the sum of all tertiary level students enrolled at the start of the school year, expressed as a percentage of the mid-year population in the 5 year age group after the official secondary school leaving age.
• Spending per student > College and university : Public expenditure per student is the public current spending on education divided by the total number of students by level, as a percentage of GDP per capita. Public expenditure (current and capital) includes government spending on educational institutions (both public and private), education administration as well as subsidies for private entities (students/households and other privates entities)."
• High school > Gender ratio : Ratio of female to male secondary enrollment is the percentage of girls to boys enrolled at secondary level in public and private schools.
• Compulsary education starting age : Age at which children must be enrolled in school.
• Pupil-teacher ratio, secondary per million : Pupil-teacher ratio, secondary. Pupil-teacher ratio. Secondary is the number of pupils enrolled in secondary school divided by the number of secondary school teachers. Figures expressed per million population for the same year.
• Literacy > Definition : This entry includes a definition of literacy and Census Bureau percentages for the total population, males, and females. There are no universal definitions and standards of literacy. Unless otherwise specified, all rates are based on the most common definition - the ability to read and write at a specified age. Detailing the standards that individual countries use to assess the ability to read and write is beyond the scope of our source. Information on literacy, while not a perfect measure of educational results, is probably the most easily available and valid for international comparisons.
• High school > Upper secondary school duration : Number of years students study at the upper secondary (high school) level.
• Literacy > Male : This entry includes a definition of literacy and Census Bureau percentages for the total population, males, and females. There are no universal definitions and standards of literacy. Unless otherwise specified, all rates are based on the most common definition - the ability to read and write at a specified age. Detailing the standards that individual countries use to assess the ability to read and write is beyond the scope of our source. Information on literacy, while not a perfect measure of educational results, is probably the most easily available and valid for international comparisons.
• Spending > USD : Education expenditure refers to the current operating expenditures in education, including wages and salaries and excluding capital investments in buildings and equipment."
• High school > Private school share : Percentage of secondary students who attend a private school.
• Spending > Proportion : Education expenditure refers to the current operating expenditures in education, including wages and salaries and excluding capital investments in buildings and equipment. Expressed as a proportion of GNI."
• Pupil-teacher ratio > Primary : Primary school pupil-teacher ratio is the number of pupils enrolled in primary school divided by the number of primary school teachers (regardless of their teaching assignment).
• Child care (preschool) > Starting age : Average age at which students begin pre-primary (preschool) education.
• Preschool enrollment rate : Gross enrollment ratio is the ratio of total enrollment, regardless of age, to the population of the age group that officially corresponds to the level of education shown. Primary education provides children with basic reading, writing, and mathematics skills along with an elementary understanding of such subjects as history, geography, natural science, social science, art, and music."
• Tertiary > Students studying abroad : Total number of post-secondary students who were studying abroad during given year.

No date was available from the Wikipedia article, so we used the date of retrieval.

• Elementary (primary school) > Duration : Number of years students study at the primary level.
• Children out of school > Primary : Children out of school are the number of primary-school-age children not enrolled in primary or secondary school.
• Secondary education, teachers per 1000 : Secondary education, teachers. Teaching staff in total secondary. Public and private. Full and part-time. All programmes. Total is the total number of teachers in public and private secondary education institutions (ISCED 2 and 3). Teachers are persons employed full time or part time in an official capacity to guide and direct the learning experience of pupils and students, irrespective of their qualifications or the delivery mechanism, i.e. face-to-face and/or at a distance. This definition excludes educational personnel who have no active teaching duties (e.g. headmasters, headmistresses or principals who do not teach) and persons who work occasionally or in a voluntary capacity in educational institutions. Figures expressed per thousand population for the same year.
• Secondary education, teachers : Secondary education, teachers. Teaching staff in total secondary. Public and private. Full and part-time. All programmes. Total is the total number of teachers in public and private secondary education institutions (ISCED 2 and 3). Teachers are persons employed full time or part time in an official capacity to guide and direct the learning experience of pupils and students, irrespective of their qualifications or the delivery mechanism, i.e. face-to-face and/or at a distance. This definition excludes educational personnel who have no active teaching duties (e.g. headmasters, headmistresses or principals who do not teach) and persons who work occasionally or in a voluntary capacity in educational institutions.
• Child care (preschool) > Students per teacher : Number of students per teacher for pre-primary (preschool) education.
• High school > Lower secondary school duration : Number of years students study at the lower secondary (middle school) level.
• Children out of school, primary, male per 1000 : Children out of school, primary, male. Out-of-school children of primary school age. Male is the total number of male primary-school-age children who are not enrolled in either primary or secondary schools. Figures expressed per thousand population for the same year.
• Secondary education, general pupils : Secondary education, general pupils. Enrolment in total secondary. Public and private. General programmes. Total is the total number of students enrolled in general programmes at public and private secondary education institutions.
• High school > Gender parity index : Country's gender parity index for secondary level enrollment. For countries with a rating of over 1, more females are enrolled while countries with a rating under 1 have more males enrolled.
• Scientific and technical journal articles : Scientific and technical journal articles refer to the number of scientific and engineering articles published in the following fields: physics, biology, chemistry, mathematics, clinical medicine, biomedical research, engineering and technology, and earth and space sciences.
• College and university > Teachers > Proportion of teachers female : Percentage of country's college and university professors that are female.
• Tertiary > Students studying abroad proportion : The number of students from a given country studying abroad in a given year, expressed as a percentage of total tertiary enrollment in that country. Ratios greater than 100 % are possible, because those currently studying abroad do not count towards total enrollment.
• Education enrolment by level > Tertiary level per 1000 : . Figures expressed per thousand population for the same year.
• Scouting > Genders admitted : Admits boys/girls.
• Elementary (primary school) > Starting age : Average age at which students begin primary education.
• Children out of school, primary, male : Children out of school, primary, male. Out-of-school children of primary school age. Male is the total number of male primary-school-age children who are not enrolled in either primary or secondary schools.
• High school > Students per teacher : Number of students per teacher for all levels of secondary education.
• Secondary education > General pupils : Secondary general pupils are the number of secondary students enrolled in general education programs, including teacher training.
• Secondary school starting age > Years : Secondary school starting age (years). Entrance age of 2A lower secondary is the age at which students would enter lower secondary education, assuming they had started at the official entrance age for the lowest level of education, had studied full-time throughout and had progressed through the system without repeating or skipping a grade.
• High school starting age > Years : Secondary school starting age is the age at which students would enter secondary education, assuming they had started at the official entrance age for the lowest level of education, had studied full-time throughout and had progressed through the system without repeating or skipping a grade."
• Primary education > Teachers > Per capita : Primary education teachers includes full-time and part-time teachers. Per capita figures expressed per 1,000 population.
• High school > Population with at least high school education > Women : Population with at least high school education > Women.
• Elementary school graduate rate : Persistence to last grade of primary is the percentage of children enrolled in the first grade of primary school who eventually reach the last grade of primary education. The estimate is based on the reconstructed cohort method.
• Schools connected to the Internet : Schools connected to the Internet are the share of primary and secondary schools in the country that have access to the Internet.
• Primary education, pupils per 1000 : Primary education, pupils. Enrolment in primary. Public and private. All programmes. Total is the total number of students enrolled in public and private primary education institutions. Figures expressed per thousand population for the same year.
• Secondary education, pupils per 1000 : Secondary education, pupils. Enrolment in total secondary. Public and private. All programmes. Total is the total number of students enrolled at public and private secondary education institutions. Figures expressed per thousand population for the same year.
• Education enrolment by level > Tertiary level > Per capita : Per capita figures expressed per 1,000 population.
• Universities > Top 100 : Number of universities in the top 100
• Tertiary > Students studying abroad per thousand people : Total number of post-secondary students who were studying abroad during given year. Figures expressed per thousand people for the same year.
• Outcomes > Secondary education > Duration > Years : Secondary education, duration (years) is the number of grades (years) in secondary school."
• Teacher student ratio > High school : Secondary school pupil-teacher ratio is the number of pupils enrolled in secondary school divided by the number of secondary school teachers (regardless of their teaching assignment).
• Children out of school > Primary per 1000 : Children out of school are the number of primary-school-age children not enrolled in primary or secondary school. Figures expressed per thousand population for the same year.
• Class size > Age 13 : The average number of 13-year-old students per class.
• Teacher student ratio > Elementary school : Primary school pupil-teacher ratio is the number of pupils enrolled in primary school divided by the number of primary school teachers (regardless of their teaching assignment).
• Elementary school > Enrolled students : Primary education pupils is the total number of pupils enrolled at primary level in public and private schools.
• Primary education > Duration > Years : Primary duration refers to the number of years of full-time equivalent duration in primary education in the school system according to ISCED.
• Services, etc., value added > Constant 2000 US$ per capita : Services, etc., value added (constant 2000 US$). Services correspond to ISIC divisions 50-99. They include value added in wholesale and retail trade (including hotels and restaurants), transport, and government, financial, professional, and personal services such as education, health care, and real estate services. Also included are imputed bank service charges, import duties, and any statistical discrepancies noted by national compilers as well as discrepancies arising from rescaling. Value added is the net output of a sector after adding up all outputs and subtracting intermediate inputs. It is calculated without making deductions for depreciation of fabricated assets or depletion and degradation of natural resources. The industrial origin of value added is determined by the International Standard Industrial Classification (ISIC), revision 3. Data are in constant 2005 U.S. dollars. Figures expressed per capita for the same year.
• School enrolment rate > 1st grade : Gross intake rate in grade 1 is the number of new entrants in the first grade of primary education regardless of age, expressed as a percentage of the population of the official primary entrance age."
• Secondary education, general pupils per 1000 : Secondary education, general pupils. Enrolment in total secondary. Public and private. General programmes. Total is the total number of students enrolled in general programmes at public and private secondary education institutions. Figures expressed per thousand population for the same year.
• High school > Lower secondary starting age : Average age at which students begin lower secondary (middle school) education.
• Elementary (primary) school) > Private school share : Percentage of primary students who attend a private school.
• Elementary school > Gender ratio : Ratio of female to male primary enrollment is the percentage of girls to boys enrolled at primary level in public and private schools.
• Duration of education > Secondary level : Duration of secondary education is the number of grades (or years) in general secondary education .
• Public spending per student > Tertiary level : Public expenditure per student, tertiary level is the total reported current spending by the government on tertiary education , divided by the total number of pupils in tertiary education , expressed as a percentage of per capita GDP .
• Primary education > Pupils : Primary education pupils is the total number of pupils enrolled at primary level in public and private schools.
• High school > Population with at least high school education > Men : Gender Inequality Index.
• Education enrolment by level > Secondary level > Per capita : Per capita figures expressed per 1,000 population.
• Secondary education, vocational pupils : Secondary education, vocational pupils. Enrolment in total secondary. Public and private. Technical/vocational programmes. Total is the total number of students enrolled in technical/vocational programmes at public and private secondary education institutions.
• Elementary (primary) school > Students per teacher : Number of students per teacher for primary education.
• Secondary education > Teachers : Secondary education teachers includes full-time and part-time teachers.
• Scientific and technical journal articles per million : Scientific and technical journal articles refer to the number of scientific and engineering articles published in the following fields: physics, biology, chemistry, mathematics, clinical medicine, biomedical research, engineering and technology, and earth and space sciences. Figures expressed per million population for the same year.
• Duration of education > Primary level : Duration of primary education is the number of grades (or years) in primary education .
• Participation > Children out of school > Elementary : Children out of school are the number of primary-school-age children not enrolled in primary or secondary school.
• Participation > Ratio of girls to boys in primary and secondary education : Ratio of girls to boys in primary and secondary education is the percentage of girls to boys enrolled at primary and secondary levels in public and private schools.
• Public spending per student > Secondary level : Public expenditure per student, secondary level is the total reported current spending by the government on secondary education , divided by the total number of pupils in secondary education , expressed as a percentage of per capita GDP .
• Children out of school > Primary > Per capita : Children out of school are the number of primary-school-age children not enrolled in primary or secondary school. Per capita figures expressed per 1,000 population.
• High school > Upper secondary starting age : Average age at which students begin upper secondary (high school) education.
• Elementary school starting age > Years : Primary school starting age is the age at which students would enter primary education, assuming they had started at the official entrance age for the lowest level of education, had studied full-time throughout and had progressed through the system without repeating or skipping a grade."
• Elementary school repeaters > All : Repeaters in primary school are the number of students enrolled in the same grade as in the previous year, as a percentage of all students enrolled in primary school."
• Universities > Top 200 : Number of universities in the top 200
• Secondary education > General pupils > Per capita : Secondary general pupils are the number of secondary students enrolled in general education programs, including teacher training. Per capita figures expressed per 1,000 population.
• Education enrolment by level > Primary level > Per capita : Per capita figures expressed per 1 population.
• Education enrolment by level > Primary level per 1000 : . Figures expressed per thousand population for the same year.
• Pupils-teacher ratio > Primary level : Pupil-teacher ratio, primary level is the average number of pupils per teacher in primary education . Cross-country comparisons may be affected by such factors as the composition of teachers by part- and full-time employment.
• Elementary (primary school) > Teachers > Proportion of teachers female : Percentage of country's elementary, or primary, teachers that are female.
• Primary education > Teachers : Primary education teachers includes full-time and part-time teachers.
• Students from households with computer > Age 13 : Percentage of 13-year-old students who come from households with at least one computer.
• Private school enrolment > Primary level : Private sector enrolment share, primary level is the share of primary school pupils who attend a privately managed school, regardless of whether or not the school receives subsidies from the government .
• Outcomes > Primary education > Duration > Years : Primary duration refers to the number of years of full-time equivalent duration in primary education in the school system according to ISCED.
• Primary education > Teachers per 1000 : Primary education teachers includes full-time and part-time teachers. Figures expressed per thousand population for the same year.
• Children out of school > Primary > Female > Per capita : Children out of school are the number of primary-school-age children not enrolled in primary or secondary school. Per capita figures expressed per 1,000 population.
• Female enrolment share > Primary level : Girls' enrolment share, primary level is the number of girls enrolled in primary school, expressed as a percentage of the total number of pupils in primary school.
• Services, etc., value added > Constant 2000 US$ : Services, etc., value added (constant 2000 US$). Services correspond to ISIC divisions 50-99. They include value added in wholesale and retail trade (including hotels and restaurants), transport, and government, financial, professional, and personal services such as education, health care, and real estate services. Also included are imputed bank service charges, import duties, and any statistical discrepancies noted by national compilers as well as discrepancies arising from rescaling. Value added is the net output of a sector after adding up all outputs and subtracting intermediate inputs. It is calculated without making deductions for depreciation of fabricated assets or depletion and degradation of natural resources. The industrial origin of value added is determined by the International Standard Industrial Classification (ISIC), revision 3. Data are in constant 2005 U.S. dollars.
• Universities > Top 200 per million : Number of universities in the top 200. Figures expressed per million population for the same year.
• Proportion of primary education time spent learning technology : Intended instruction time spent studying technology, as a percentage of total intended instruction time for students 12 to 14 years of age. Data for 1999.
• Primary school starting age > Years : Primary school starting age (years). Entrance age of primary is the age at which students would enter primary education, assuming they had started at the official entrance age for the lowest level of education, had studied full-time throughout and had progressed through the system without repeating or skipping a grade.
• Scouting > Members : Members of boy or girl scout groups which are members of the World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM).
• Participation > Secondary education > General pupils : Secondary general pupils are the number of secondary students enrolled in general education programs, including teacher training."
• Secondary education > General pupils per 1000 : Secondary general pupils are the number of secondary students enrolled in general education programs, including teacher training. Figures expressed per thousand population for the same year.
• Secondary education > Teachers per 1000 : Secondary education teachers includes full-time and part-time teachers. Figures expressed per thousand population for the same year.
• Ratio of female to male primary enrollment : Ratio of female to male primary enrollment is the percentage of girls to boys enrolled at primary level in public and private schools.
• Children out of school > Primary > Male : Children out of school are the number of primary-school-age children not enrolled in primary or secondary school.
• Elementary (primary) school > Gender parity index : Country's gender parity index in primary, or elementary, school. For countries with a rating of over 1, more females are enrolled while countries with a rating under 1 have more males enrolled. 
• Female enrolment share > Secondary level : Girls' enrolment share, secondary level is the number of girls enrolled in secondary school, expressed as a percentage of the total number of pupils in secondary school.
• Private school enrolment > Secondary level : Private sector enrolment share, secondary level is the share of students in general secondary education who attend a privately managed school, regardless of whether or not the school receives subsidies from the government .
• Education enrolment by level > Secondary level per 1000 : . Figures expressed per thousand population for the same year.
• Scouting > Members per thousand people : Membership (from 2012). Figures expressed per thousand people for the same year.
• Proportion of primary education time spent learning science : Intended instruction time spent studying science, as a percentage of total intended instruction time for students 12 to 14 years of age. Data for 1999.
• Elementary school repeaters > Female : Repeaters in primary school are the number of students enrolled in the same grade as in the previous year, as a percentage of all students enrolled in primary school."
• Elementary school repeaters > Male : Repeaters in primary school are the number of students enrolled in the same grade as in the previous year, as a percentage of all students enrolled in primary school."
• Children out of school > Primary > Male > Per capita : Children out of school are the number of primary-school-age children not enrolled in primary or secondary school. Per capita figures expressed per 1,000 population.
• Elementary school teachers : Primary education teachers includes full-time and part-time teachers.
• High school teachers : Secondary education teachers includes full-time and part-time teachers.
• Students from households with computer > Age 13 per million : Percentage of 13-year-old students who come from households with at least one computer. Figures expressed per million population for the same year.
• Teacher qualifications > Share with special training > Age 13 : Of those teachers who teach students aged 13, the percentage who have specialised teacher training.
• Teacher qualifications > Years experience > Age 13 : The average number of years of teaching experience, for teachers of students aged 13.
• Students from households with more than 25 books > Age 13 : Percentage of 13 year-old students who come from households owning more than 25 books.
• Universities > Top 100 per million : Number of universities in the top 100. Figures expressed per million population for the same year.
• Students from households with study desk > Age 13 : Percentage of 13-year-old students who come from households with at least one study desk.
• Participation > Secondary education > Pupils : Secondary education pupils is the total number of pupils enrolled at secondary level in public and private schools.
• Proportion of primary education time spent learning vocational skills : Intended instruction time spent studying vocational skills, as a percentage of total intended instruction time for students 12 to 14 years of age. Data for 1999.
• Universities > Top 200 > Per $ GDP : Number of universities in the top 200 Per $ GDP figures expressed per 1 billion $ gross domestic product.
• Ratio of female to male secondary enrollment : Ratio of female to male secondary enrollment is the percentage of girls to boys enrolled at secondary level in public and private schools.
• Primary education > Pupils per 1000 : Primary education pupils is the total number of pupils enrolled at primary level in public and private schools. Figures expressed per thousand population for the same year.
• Students from households with calculator > Age 13 : Percentage of 13-year-old students who come from households containing at least one calculator.
• Proportion of primary education time spent learning foreign languages : Intended instruction time spent studying modern foreign languages , as a percentage of total intended instruction time for students 12 to 14 years of age. Data for 1999.
• Universities > Top 100 > Per $ GDP : Number of universities in the top 100 Per $ GDP figures expressed per 14.1 billion $ gross domestic product.
• Students from households with more than 25 books > Age 13 per million : Percentage of 13 year-old students who come from households owning more than 25 books. Figures expressed per million population for the same year.
• Students whose mothers have secondary education > Age 13 : Percentage of 13-year-old students whose mothers have at least secondary education .
• Students from households with dictionary > Age 13 : The percentage of 13-year-old students who come from a household with a dictionary.
• Students living with mother > Age 13 : Percentage of 13-year-old students who live with their mother.
• Labor force with primary education > % of total : Labor force with primary education (% of total). Labor force with primary education is the proportion of the labor force that has a primary education, as a percentage of the total labor force.
• Labor force with secondary education, male > % of male labor force : Labor force with secondary education, male (% of male labor force). Labor force with secondary education is the proportion of the labor force that has a secondary education, as a percentage of the total labor force.
• Labor force with secondary education > % of total : Labor force with secondary education (% of total). Labor force with secondary education is the proportion of the labor force that has a secondary education, as a percentage of the total labor force.
• Unemployment with tertiary education > % of total unemployment : Unemployment with tertiary education (% of total unemployment). Unemployment by level of educational attainment shows the unemployed by level of educational attainment, as a percentage of the unemployed. The levels of educational attainment accord with the International Standard Classification of Education 1997 of the United Nations Educational, Cultural, and Scientific Organization (UNESCO).
• Primary education > Pupils > % female : Female pupils as a percentage of total pupils at primary level include enrollments in public and private schools.
• Primary education > Pupils > Per capita : Primary education pupils is the total number of pupils enrolled at primary level in public and private schools. Per capita figures expressed per 1 population.
• Researchers in R&D > Per million people : Researchers in R&D (per million people). Researchers in R&D are professionals engaged in the conception or creation of new knowledge, products, processes, methods, or systems and in the management of the projects concerned. Postgraduate PhD students (ISCED97 level 6) engaged in R&D are included.
• High school teachers > % female : Female teachers as a percentage of total secondary education teachers includes full-time and part-time teachers.
• Elementary school > Enrolled students > % female : Female pupils as a percentage of total pupils at primary level include enrollments in public and private schools.
• Elementary school teachers > % female : Female teachers as a percentage of total primary education teachers includes full-time and part-time teachers.
• Participation > Secondary education > Vocational pupils > % female : Secondary vocational pupils are the number of secondary students enrolled in technical and vocational education programs, including teacher training."
• Participation > Total enrollment > Primary > Male > % net : Total enrollment is the number of pupils of the school-age group for primary education, enrolled either in primary or secondary education, expressed as a percentage of the total population in that age group."
• Preschool enrollment rate > Female : Gross enrollment ratio is the ratio of total enrollment, regardless of age, to the population of the age group that officially corresponds to the level of education shown. Preprimary education refers to the initial stage of organized instruction, designed primarily to introduce very young children to a school-type environment."
• Preschool enrollment rate > Male : Gross enrollment ratio is the ratio of total enrollment, regardless of age, to the population of the age group that officially corresponds to the level of education shown. Preprimary education refers to the initial stage of organized instruction, designed primarily to introduce very young children to a school-type environment."
• School enrolment rate > 1st grade > Female : Gross intake rate in grade 1 is the number of new entrants in the first grade of primary education regardless of age, expressed as a percentage of the population of the official primary entrance age."
• School enrolment rate > 1st grade > Male : Gross intake rate in grade 1 is the number of new entrants in the first grade of primary education regardless of age, expressed as a percentage of the population of the official primary entrance age."
• Literacy and Attainment > Educational attainment: completed tertiary > Tertiary > Population 25+ years > % > Over 24 year olds : Percentage of population older than 24 years that has completed tertiary education.
• Unemployment with secondary education, male > % of male unemployment : Unemployment with secondary education, male (% of male unemployment). Unemployment by level of educational attainment shows the unemployed by level of educational attainment, as a percentage of the unemployed. The levels of educational attainment accord with the International Standard Classification of Education 1997 of the United Nations Educational, Cultural, and Scientific Organization (UNESCO).
• Public spending on education, total > % of GDP : Public spending on education, total (% of GDP). Public expenditure on education as % of GDP is the total public expenditure (current and capital) on education expressed as a percentage of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in a given year. Public expenditure on education includes government spending on educational institutions (both public and private), education administration, and transfers/subsidies for private entities (students/households and other privates entities).
• Unemployment with primary education, male > % of male unemployment : Unemployment with primary education, male (% of male unemployment). Unemployment by level of educational attainment shows the unemployed by level of educational attainment, as a percentage of the unemployed. The levels of educational attainment accord with the International Standard Classification of Education 1997 of the United Nations Educational, Cultural, and Scientific Organization (UNESCO).
• Labor force with tertiary education, male > % of male labor force : Labor force with tertiary education, male (% of male labor force). Labor force with tertiary education is the proportion of labor force that has a tertiary education, as a percentage of the total labor force.
• Unemployment with tertiary education, female > % of female unemployment : Unemployment with tertiary education, female (% of female unemployment). Unemployment by level of educational attainment shows the unemployed by level of educational attainment, as a percentage of the unemployed. The levels of educational attainment accord with the International Standard Classification of Education 1997 of the United Nations Educational, Cultural, and Scientific Organization (UNESCO).
• Unemployment with tertiary education, male > % of male unemployment : Unemployment with tertiary education, male (% of male unemployment). Unemployment by level of educational attainment shows the unemployed by level of educational attainment, as a percentage of the unemployed. The levels of educational attainment accord with the International Standard Classification of Education 1997 of the United Nations Educational, Cultural, and Scientific Organization (UNESCO).
• School enrollment > Primary > Female > % gross : Gross enrollment ratio is the ratio of total enrollment, regardless of age, to the population of the age group that officially corresponds to the level of education shown. Primary education provides children with basic reading, writing, and mathematics skills along with an elementary understanding of such subjects as history, geography, natural science, social science, art, and music.
• Primary education > Teachers > % female : Female teachers as a percentage of total primary education teachers includes full-time and part-time teachers.
• Proportion of primary education time spent in physical education : Intended instruction time spent studying physical education , as a percentage of total intended instruction time for students 12 to 14 years of age. Data for 1999.
• Government spending on education > % of GDP : Public expenditure on education consists of current and capital public expenditure on education includes government spending on educational institutions (both public and private), education administration as well as subsidies for private entities (students/households and other privates entities)."
• Participation > School enrollment > Primary > Female > % net : Net enrollment ratio is the ratio of children of official school age based on the International Standard Classification of Education 1997 who are enrolled in school to the population of the corresponding official school age. Primary education provides children with basic reading, writing, and mathematics skills along with an elementary understanding of such subjects as history, geography, natural science, social science, art, and music."
• Government spending on education > % of government spending : Public expenditure on education consists of current and capital public expenditure on education includes government spending on educational institutions (both public and private), education administration as well as subsidies for private entities (students/households and other privates entities)."
• Participation > School enrollment > Primary > Female > % gross : Gross enrollment ratio is the ratio of total enrollment, regardless of age, to the population of the age group that officially corresponds to the level of education shown. Primary education provides children with basic reading, writing, and mathematics skills along with an elementary understanding of such subjects as history, geography, natural science, social science, art, and music."
• Ratio of girls to boys in primary and secondary education > % : Ratio of girls to boys in primary and secondary education (%). Ratio of girls to boys in primary and secondary education is the percentage of girls to boys enrolled at primary and secondary levels in public and private schools.
• School enrollment, preprimary, female > % gross : School enrollment, preprimary, female (% gross). Gross enrolment ratio. Pre-primary. Female is the total female enrollment in pre-primary education, regardless of age, expressed as a percentage of the total female population of official pre-primary education age. GER can exceed 100% due to the inclusion of over-aged and under-aged students because of early or late school entrance and grade repetition.
• School enrollment, preprimary, male > % gross : School enrollment, preprimary, male (% gross). Gross enrolment ratio. Pre-primary. Male is the total male enrollment in pre-primary education, regardless of age, expressed as a percentage of the total male population of official pre-primary education age. GER can exceed 100% due to the inclusion of over-aged and under-aged students because of early or late school entrance and grade repetition.
• Secondary education, pupils > % female : Secondary education, pupils (% female). Percentage of female students. Total secondary. All programmes is the number of female students enrolled in all secondary education programmes expressed as a percentage of the total number of students (male and female) enrolled at the secondary education level in a given school year.
• Services, etc., value added > Current US$ per capita : Services, etc., value added (current US$). Services correspond to ISIC divisions 50-99. They include value added in wholesale and retail trade (including hotels and restaurants), transport, and government, financial, professional, and personal services such as education, health care, and real estate services. Also included are imputed bank service charges, import duties, and any statistical discrepancies noted by national compilers as well as discrepancies arising from rescaling. Value added is the net output of a sector after adding up all outputs and subtracting intermediate inputs. It is calculated without making deductions for depreciation of fabricated assets or depletion and degradation of natural resources. The industrial origin of value added is determined by the International Standard Industrial Classification (ISIC), revision 3. Data are in current U.S. dollars. Figures expressed per capita for the same year.
• Services, etc., value added > Current US$, % of GDP : Services, etc., value added (current US$). Services correspond to ISIC divisions 50-99. They include value added in wholesale and retail trade (including hotels and restaurants), transport, and government, financial, professional, and personal services such as education, health care, and real estate services. Also included are imputed bank service charges, import duties, and any statistical discrepancies noted by national compilers as well as discrepancies arising from rescaling. Value added is the net output of a sector after adding up all outputs and subtracting intermediate inputs. It is calculated without making deductions for depreciation of fabricated assets or depletion and degradation of natural resources. The industrial origin of value added is determined by the International Standard Industrial Classification (ISIC), revision 3. Data are in current U.S. dollars. Figures expressed as a proportion of GDP for the same year
• Secondary education, vocational pupils per 1000 : Secondary education, vocational pupils. Enrolment in total secondary. Public and private. Technical/vocational programmes. Total is the total number of students enrolled in technical/vocational programmes at public and private secondary education institutions. Figures expressed per thousand population for the same year.
• Secondary education, teachers, female per 1000 : Secondary education, teachers, female. Teaching staff in total secondary. Public and private. Full and part-time. All programmes. Female is the total number of female teachers in public and private secondary education institutions (ISCED 2 and 3). Teachers are persons employed full time or part time in an official capacity to guide and direct the learning experience of pupils and students, irrespective of their qualifications or the delivery mechanism, i.e. face-to-face and/or at a distance. This definition excludes educational personnel who have no active teaching duties (e.g. headmasters, headmistresses or principals who do not teach) and persons who work occasionally or in a voluntary capacity in educational institutions. Figures expressed per thousand population for the same year.
• Adjusted savings: education expenditure > % of GNI : Adjusted savings: education expenditure (% of GNI). Education expenditure refers to the current operating expenditures in education, including wages and salaries and excluding capital investments in buildings and equipment.
• Persistence to last grade of primary, total > % of cohort : Persistence to last grade of primary, total (% of cohort). Survival rate to last grade of primary. Total is the share of children enrolled in the first grade of primary school who eventually reach the last grade of primary. The estimate is calculated on the basis of the reconstructed cohort method, which uses data on enrolment and repeaters for two consecutive years.
• School enrollment > Secondary > Female > % gross : Gross enrollment ratio is the ratio of total enrollment, regardless of age, to the population of the age group that officially corresponds to the level of education shown. Secondary education completes the provision of basic education that began at the primary level, and aims at laying the foundations for lifelong learning and human development, by offering more subject- or skill-oriented instruction using more specialized teachers.
• School enrollment, primary, male > % net : School enrollment, primary, male (% net). Net enrolment rate. Primary. Male is the ratio of male children of the official primary school age who are enrolled in primary school to the male population of the official primary school age.
• Persistence to last grade of primary, female > % of cohort : Persistence to last grade of primary, female (% of cohort). Survival rate to last grade of primary. Female is the share of female children enrolled in the first grade of primary school who eventually reach the last grade of primary. The estimate is calculated on the basis of the reconstructed cohort method, which uses data on enrolment and repeaters for two consecutive years.
• Repeaters, primary, male > % of male enrollment : Repeaters, primary, male (% of male enrollment). Percentage of repeaters in primary. All grades. Male is the number of male students enrolled in the same grade as in the previous year, as a percentage of all male students enrolled in primary school. It is calculated by dividing the sum of male repeaters in all grades of primary education by the total male enrolment of primary education and multiplying the result by 100.

SOURCES: UNESCO Institute for Statistics; UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Population figures from World Bank : (1) United Nations Population Division. World Population Prospects, (2) United Nations Statistical Division. Population and Vital Statistics Report (various years), (3) Census reports and other statistical publications from national statistical offices, (4) Eurostat: Demographic Statistics, (5) Secretariat of the Pacific Community: Statistics and Demography Programme, and (6) U.S. Census Bureau: International Database.; United Nations Statistics Division . Source tables ; UNESCO Institute for Statistics . Source tables ; UNESCO Institute for Statistics . Source tables ; UNESCO Institute for Statistics . Source tables ; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homeschooling_international_status_and_statistics; CIA World Factbooks 18 December 2003 to 28 March 2011; UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Population figures from World Bank : (1) United Nations Population Division. World Population Prospects, (2) United Nations Statistical Division. Population and Vital Statistics Report (various years), (3) Census reports and other statistical publications from national statistical offices, (4) Eurostat: Demographic Statistics, (5) Secretariat of the Pacific Community: Statistics and Demography Programme, and (6) U.S. Census Bureau: International Database.; United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) Institute for Statistics.; UNESCO Institute for Statistics . Source tables ; World Development Indicators database ; UNESCO; UNESCO Institute for Statistics . Source tables ; Source: UNESCO UIS Data | UNESCO Institute for Statistics ; UNESCO Institute for Statistics . Source tables ; UNESCO Institute for Statistics . Source tables ; World Bank staff estimates using data from the United Nations Statistics Division's Statistical Yearbook, and the UNESCO Institute for Statistics online database.; UNESCO Institute for Statistics . Source tables ; UNESCO Institute for Statistics . Source tables ; UNESCO Institute for Statistics . Source tables ; Wikipedia: List of countries by student performance (Reading) ; UNESCO Institute for Statistics . Source tables ; UNESCO Institute for Statistics . Source tables ; UNESCO Institute for Statistics . Source tables ; United Nations Statistics Division . Source tables ; United Nations Statistics Division . Source tables ; UNESCO Institute for Statistics . Source tables ; Source: UNESCO UIS Data | UNESCO Institute for Statistics . Population figures from World Bank : (1) United Nations Population Division. World Population Prospects, (2) United Nations Statistical Division. Population and Vital Statistics Report (various years), (3) Census reports and other statistical publications from national statistical offices, (4) Eurostat: Demographic Statistics, (5) Secretariat of the Pacific Community: Statistics and Demography Programme, and (6) U.S. Census Bureau: International Database.; Wikipedia: List of World Organization of the Scout Movement members (Table of World Organization of the Scout Movement members) ; UNESCO Institute for Statistics . Source tables ; UNESCO Institute for Statistics . Source tables ; United Nations Development Programme . Source tables ; The Times, 2005 ; UNESCO Institute for Statistics . Source tables . Population figures from World Bank : (1) United Nations Population Division. World Population Prospects, (2) United Nations Statistical Division. Population and Vital Statistics Report (various years), (3) Census reports and other statistical publications from national statistical offices, (4) Eurostat: Demographic Statistics, (5) Secretariat of the Pacific Community: Statistics and Demography Programme, and (6) U.S. Census Bureau: International Database.; World Development Indicators database . Population figures from World Bank : (1) United Nations Population Division. World Population Prospects, (2) United Nations Statistical Division. Population and Vital Statistics Report (various years), (3) Census reports and other statistical publications from national statistical offices, (4) Eurostat: Demographic Statistics, (5) Secretariat of the Pacific Community: Statistics and Demography Programme, and (6) U.S. Census Bureau: International Database.; "Efficiency and Equity in Schools around the World" by Eric A. Hanushek and Javier A. Luque, April 2002; World Bank national accounts data . Population figures from World Bank : (1) United Nations Population Division. World Population Prospects, (2) United Nations Statistical Division. Population and Vital Statistics Report (various years), (3) Census reports and other statistical publications from national statistical offices, (4) Eurostat: Demographic Statistics, (5) Secretariat of the Pacific Community: Statistics and Demography Programme, and (6) U.S. Census Bureau: International Database.; UNESCO Institute for Statistics . Source tables ; UNESCO Institute for Statistics . Source tables ; UNESCO Institute for Statistics . Source tables ; All CIA World Factbooks 18 December 2003 to 18 December 2008; UNESCO Institute for Statistics . Source tables ; World Bank national accounts data ; The Times, 2005 . Population figures from World Bank : (1) United Nations Population Division. World Population Prospects, (2) United Nations Statistical Division. Population and Vital Statistics Report (various years), (3) Census reports and other statistical publications from national statistical offices, (4) Eurostat: Demographic Statistics, (5) Secretariat of the Pacific Community: Statistics and Demography Programme, and (6) U.S. Census Bureau: International Database.; UNESCO Institute of Statistics ; "WOSM MEMBERSHIP as at 31st December 2012". World Organization of the Scout Movement . August 2013.; United Nations Statistics Division . Source tables ; Wikipedia: List of World Organization of the Scout Movement members (Table of World Organization of the Scout Movement members) ( "WOSM MEMBERSHIP as at 31st December 2012" . World Organization of the Scout Movement . Retrieved 2014-03-03 . ). Population figures from World Bank : (1) United Nations Population Division. World Population Prospects, (2) United Nations Statistical Division. Population and Vital Statistics Report (various years), (3) Census reports and other statistical publications from national statistical offices, (4) Eurostat: Demographic Statistics, (5) Secretariat of the Pacific Community: Statistics and Demography Programme, and (6) U.S. Census Bureau: International Database.; "Efficiency and Equity in Schools around the World" by Eric A. Hanushek and Javier A. Luque, April 2002. Population figures from World Bank : (1) United Nations Population Division. World Population Prospects, (2) United Nations Statistical Division. Population and Vital Statistics Report (various years), (3) Census reports and other statistical publications from national statistical offices, (4) Eurostat: Demographic Statistics, (5) Secretariat of the Pacific Community: Statistics and Demography Programme, and (6) U.S. Census Bureau: International Database.; Wikipedia: International Mathematical Olympiad ; International Labour Organization, Key Indicators of the Labour Market database.; United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Institute for Statistics.; http://data.un.org/Data.aspx?d=UNESCO&f=series%3aEA_56_Ag25t99 , Educational attainment: completed tertiary; World Bank national accounts data . GDP figures sourced from World Bank national accounts data , and OECD National Accounts data files.; World Bank staff estimates

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Compare russia and united states in.

Factoid #72

• Over the years,  Africa  has had some of the worst literacy rates on Earth; up to 50% of the population is illiterate in some countries.

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Opinion based on differences in American and Russian college education

I have always thought that the education (especially universities) in my country of Russia is one of the best ones around the world until I stumbled upon the Liberal Arts education system in the United States, which is completely different from the Russian one. From my perspective, at some points I can say that the way American students are taught is much better than in Russia. On the other hand, there are huge cons that I will try to describe in this article.

In my country we could not even imagine that students have the opportunity to choose subjects from variety of offered courses. In Russia, students start their first year of university with schedule provided by dean, which is unchangeable. That means you must study History and Chinese language while planning to have Physics major without any changes even if you are not interested in it.

And I made a mistake saying that we can plan to have a major as we cannot do that. As soon as you enter your first-year at university, you are already enrolled in specific major which you have chosen right after graduation from high school. Here differences start. The Russian educational system is stricter, which means people do not have an opportunity to develop themselves as a person.

First, the timetable! I was a little confused when I saw my Russian friends’ timetable at first. As I started my university life in the USA without even ever been studying in a Russia university, I had no idea how different timetables are. My friends in my country start their day at 8 a.m. every day except Friday, Saturday and Sunday usually. They are overwhelmed with three or four lectures every day on different subjects, sometimes each lasting for one or two hours. Extracurricular activities are sometimes being provided by University, but usually students do not have time to do anything except their studies (even work). They are being paid for passing their final exam, notwithstanding, it is usually 50 to 100 dollars, which cannot help you that much in your daily life.

Russian students usually do not live on campus. It is common among Russian students to study at local university, therefore, they live with their parents in the same flat, leave for classes in the early morning, and come back later at night to study. They travel around city to their university building, they eat in cafes nearby, but they do their assignments at home.

Assignments are completely different from ones in America too. My friends never do their homework for the next lesson as they do not need to. Their final grade is 100 percent, which depends on how they do their final exam. It does not matter if you were absent for 10 lectures or not, it does not matter if you were not preparing for every single lesson, it is important to do your best on your final exam!

In this case the Russian education system is not that good. First, you do not develop your personality at all as you have fixed timetable, lectures and do not have homework. Russian students live with their parents which means they do nothing for a living, they do not have to care whether their clothes are dirty, or their bed is not made. They do not usually make that many friends in University, they do not develop their social skills. That is why, in my opinion, American students are lucky to have a Liberal Arts education system as it provides them with a large variety of opportunities, makes you work on your personality and diverse skills, not only on your academic performance.

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Education Rankings by Country 2024

There is a correlation between a country's educational system quality and its economic status, with developed nations offering higher quality education.

The U.S., despite ranking high in educational system surveys, falls behind in math and science scores compared to many other countries.

Educational system adequacy varies globally, with some countries struggling due to internal conflicts, economic challenges, or underfunded programs.

While education levels vary from country to country, there is a clear correlation between the quality of a country's educational system and its general economic status and overall well-being. In general, developing nations tend to offer their citizens a higher quality of education than the least developed nations do, and fully developed nations offer the best quality of education of all. Education is clearly a vital contributor to any country's overall health.

According to the Global Partnership for Education , education is considered to be a human right and plays a crucial role in human, social, and economic development . Education promotes gender equality, fosters peace, and increases a person's chances of having more and better life and career opportunities.

"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world." — Nelson Mandela

The annual Best Countries Report , conducted by US News and World Report, BAV Group, and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania , reserves an entire section for education. The report surveys thousands of people across 78 countries, then ranks those countries based upon the survey's responses. The education portion of the survey compiles scores from three equally-weighted attributes: a well-developed public education system, would consider attending university there, and provides top-quality education. As of 2023, the top ten countries based on education rankings are:

Countries with the Best Educational Systems - 2021 Best Countries Report*

Ironically, despite the United States having the best-surveyed education system on the globe, U.S students consistently score lower in math and science than students from many other countries. According to a Business Insider report in 2018, the U.S. ranked 38th in math scores and 24th in science. Discussions about why the United States' education rankings have fallen by international standards over the past three decades frequently point out that government spending on education has failed to keep up with inflation.

It's also worthwhile to note that while the Best Countries study is certainly respectable, other studies use different methodologies or emphasize different criteria, which often leads to different results. For example, the Global Citizens for Human Rights' annual study measures ten levels of education from early childhood enrollment rates to adult literacy. Its final 2020 rankings look a bit different:

Education Rates of Children Around the World

Most findings and ranking regarding education worldwide involve adult literacy rates and levels of education completed. However, some studies look at current students and their abilities in different subjects.

One of the most-reviewed studies regarding education around the world involved 470,000 fifteen-year-old students. Each student was administered tests in math, science, and reading similar to the SAT or ACT exams (standardized tests used for college admissions in the U.S.) These exam scores were later compiled to determine each country's average score for each of the three subjects. Based on this study, China received the highest scores , followed by Korea, Finland , Hong Kong , Singapore , Canada , New Zealand , Japan , Australia and the Netherlands .

On the down side, there are many nations whose educational systems are considered inadequate. This could be due to internal conflict, economic problems, or underfunded programs. The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization's Education for All Global Monitoring Report ranks the following countries as having the world's worst educational systems:

Countries with the Lowest Adult Literacy Rates

• Education rankings are sourced from both the annual UN News Best Countries report and the nonprofit organization World Top 20

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Which country ranks first in education?

Which country ranks last in education, frequently asked questions.

• Best Countries for Education - 2023 - US News
• Literacy rate, adult total (% of people ages 15 and above) - World Bank
• World Best Education Systems - Global Citizens for Human Rights
• UNESCO - Global Education Monitoring Reports
• World’s 10 Worst Countries for Education - Global Citizen
• International Education Database - World Top 20