Kids on Bus Going to School China

By: Debbie Stock

Kids in major Chinese cities such as Shanghai and Beijing go to school on buses just like they do in California. How do China's schools rank compared to ours?

1. South Korea
2. Japan
3. Singapore
4. Hong Kong
5. Finland
6. UK
7. Canada
8. Netherlands
9. Ireland
10. Poland
11. China
12. New Zealand
13. Norway
14. Belgium
15. Germany
16. Denmark
17. Estonia
18. United States
19. France
20. Portugal

East Asian nations continue to outperform others. South Korea tops the rankings, followed by Japan (2nd), Singapore (3rd) and Hong Kong (4th). All these countries' education systems prize effort above inherited ‘smartness', have clear learning outcomes and goalposts, and have a strong culture of accountability and engagement among a broad community of stakeholders.
Scandinavian countries, traditionally strong performers, are showing signs of losing their edge. Finland, the 2012 Index leader, has fallen to 5th place; and Sweden is down from 21st to 24th.
Notable improvements include Israel (up 12 places to 17th), Russia (up 7 places to 13th) and Poland (up four places to 10th).
Developing countries populate the lower half of the Index, with Indonesia again ranking last of the 40 nations covered, preceded by Mexico (39th) and Brazil (38th).

Chinese secondary school students are getting less exercise--and their health is declining as a result.

Half of the students have high blood pressure and the number of overweight students is double that from five years ago, according to a recent study from Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health, and State Sports Administration in China.

It also indicates a physical decline in vital capacity, speed and strength while heights and weights continue on an upward curve.

Elementary and secondary students in Beijing have on average more than eight classes a day, double the amount of class hours allowed by state regulations, making it difficult for students to get much needed exercise.

"More than 60 percent of head teachers of elementary and secondary schools in Beijing admit that the students are overloaded with school work and many schools cannot let students have physical education every day," said Du Songpeng, deputy director of the commission.

Some schools cancel sports events they think are too dangerous in order to avoid accidents, which makes it difficult to improve the physical condition of the students, Du said.