Saleh

Nehma Saleh

Ms. Colvin

English 1201

3/29/2020

Differences of Countries Schools Systems

There are millions of different schools around the world. Each country has its educational

system and its ways of helping students and improving their school systems. How do schools in

the United States, compare to schools in other countries? Each school is different some care

about the money for technology and improvements, while others care more about the students

disciplining them and keeping them under control, and others care about the teachers they hire.

Some schools think money means success and the more equipment they have the better

their school and students will be. While other schools think Focusing on the teacher's and whom

they hire matters more for the education of their students. "Finland attributes its success in

education in getting the right people to become teachers." "Teacher training programs are

competitive and rigorous" (Wilkins, Corrigan). While the United States puts a lot of money into

their schools. “Finland spent the equivalent of $10,000per student on basic education less than

the U.S average” (Wilkins, Corrigan).

The United States spends a lot of money on their schools, you would be surprised it isn't

ranked higher on how well their students do. Finland doesn't put in as much money in their

schools as the United States does but they outrank us on testing. For the amount of money,

America puts into their schools they also have a high dropout rate.

Each country has its preferences on the way they want their educational system to be set

up and what they prefer to focus on. In many countries, they stay sitting in the same class all day,
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and instead of them going to the teacher, the teacher goes to them. In the United States, they care

and want their students to enjoy what they are teaching so; they interact more with their students

and find ways to make it enjoyable. "Students don't usually like this mundane teaching style, so

many of the students have a bad attitude in class. However, in the US, the classes are shorter and

more interactive" (Arribas). In many other countries such as Spain, they also don't care as much

about the education of students with disabilities and who need extra help. "The system also

sometimes fails to pay proper attention to students with difficulties, such as learning disabilities

and social-emotional problems" (Arribas). “Chinese students are taught from the age of 2-3

years that learning is critical to success, and that discipline and strictness are required in that

pursuit” (Lynch). In countries like Spain and China, they don't care about how hard you may

have worked or tried they only care about grades. To them, the only thing that matters is the

outcome of it all.

Students in the United States are given the option to choose the classes they want to take.

In other countries, they don't get that option, and students take the same classes as their

classmates. Classrooms in China are bigger than classrooms in America. In China students also

don't participate in class they sit and stay quiet the entire class while the teacher gives the lesson.

Many schools don't have the money to make it as successful as other schools or that it has

the potential to be. "Many schools in low-income countries have inadequate access to water

facilities, sanitation, and hygiene promotion" (McMichael). Some schools in lower-income areas

don't have the money to even have clean sanitation. They can't afford to have a janitor clean the

entire school and to get the proper equipment for the bathrooms such as soap and toilet paper.

They also can't afford computers as many schools have or even books.
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Some schools have money but don't use it to improve their schools. For example, my old

school in Jordan was considered a private school, and enrollment costs thousands of dollars per

student but they did not care about hygiene or organization. The bathrooms didn't have mirrors,

toilet paper, and sometimes not even soap and they were also very unorganized. This type of

school was considered normal over in Jordan and most of the other schools were the same way.

If this school was in the United States it would be considered one of the worst schools and

maybe even get shut down. They don’t care about rules over there teachers and students do

whatever they please and never get in trouble by the administration. They don't discipline their

students so, many of them tend to act out because no one is telling them it's wrong.

Many students drop out of school for different reasons. The United States, Singapore,

Australia, and the United Kingdom are considered some of the more expensive countries to go to

school. Many students tend to drop out or not continue to go to college because they financially

can’t afford it. “Some of the major reasons found were the need for money, disinterest in classes,

family issues, poor grades, lack of support, pregnancy, and so forth”(Berger). Some drop out

because they need to focus on working more to be able to support themselves. Others drop out

because they have no interest in what they are learning in the classroom and don’t see the point

in continuing.

The United States needs more teachers. Every year the number of students that go to

school increases while the number of teachers decreases. Teachers in America work longer hours

than teachers in other countries. Many teachers in the U.S stay in school even after the students

have left so they can get work done and still need to take their work home. In Jordan, the

teachers would leave at the same time as students, and if they don't have to teach a class the last
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hour they would even leave before the students. Teachers in America also don't get paid enough

compared to teachers in other countries.

Most countries don’t pay their teaching staff a fair amount of money. Teachers should be

paid more because many schools especially those in low-income countries and areas, the teachers

are required to buy the supplies for their classrooms with their own money and the schools don’t

provide it for them. In Canada, they pay their teachers a fair amount but in the United States,

they don't get paid a fair amount.

Going to college in America is expensive and leaves millions of students in student debt.

Most students in America rely on loans to pay for college. In some country's college is free like

Turkey or Germany. Countries like Brazil have free public colleges, but they are extremely

competitive on who gets in. To get into Universities in the United States they look at many

different things. The universities require a certain GPA and they also require your Act/Sat and

some Universities require you to have above a certain grade to get accepted. They also look at

extracurricular activities and volunteer work. Other countries only require end of year testing and

school grades. For example, in the United Kingdom, they require your GCSEs. Many other

countries such as Jordan dot look at extracurricular activities because many schools don't offer

any.

Many people try to pay their way into University. Each country has its tolerance when it comes

to this. In the United States, they don't allow people to pay extra money to get into university

when they don't have the requirements to be accepted. Its either you have the grades for it, or you

don't and if you try to do this and you get caught you will go to jail or pay a large fine. In

different countries, they are more lenient on this. Many students won't have the grades to get

accepted into the university so they will pay the extra money so the university will accept them. I
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know in Jordan many people do this and get away with it. Mental health is an important thing

when it comes to school. If you don't have the right mindset you are likely to start falling behind.

Schools need to have guidance counselors and have contact with therapists if needed. “In

Finland, the 1998 Basic Education Act entitles students to pre-primary education, a safe learning

environment, and instruction that includes guidance counseling and learning support” (Wilkins

and Corrigan). Some countries especially middle eastern countries look down on mental health

and don't have the needed guidance in school to help their students.

Many countries require their high school students to take a second language other than

their main language. Not all countries require it, some are optional. Taking an English class is

mandatory in Japan. In many middle eastern countries, they require their students to take an

English class. In Jordan, everyone is required to take an English class and my school also

required us to take French, so we took three languages Arabic, English, and French. In Jordan,

they also give you the option to take the national or international program. The national program

is focused around setting you up for college in Jordan and all their classes are taught in Arabic.

The international program sets you up to study in different countries and their classes are all

taught in English. In the international program, they give you the option to go SAT (American

based program), IG (Britain based program), or IB (Sweden based program).

Schools in America have more diversity than in other countries. The main reason for this

is because America itself is a diverse country and has people from different races and ethnic

groups. This gives students the chance to get to know other students with different backgrounds

but also be friends with people who have the same background as them.

Not all countries are as diverse as America. Countries like China, Jordan, and Italy are

countries that revolve around culture and don't have a wide range of races and ethnicity. Since
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their countries revolve around culture, they teach a lot of that in their schools. In Jordan, they

taught religion at my schools because the majority of the students had the same belief system.

These countries put a lot of their focus on their country's history such as arts, religion, and

languages.

Social life is a big deal when it comes to high school students in America. They get

extracurricular activities such as sports, clubs, prom, homecoming, and pep rallies. These

activities help students socialize with each other and it also teaches them how to be creative but

it's not always a good thing. These activities distract students from their schoolwork. While some

students can balance both, not all can. In Hong Kong, they aren't allowed to play sports with

their high school so they can focus on their education.

Studying internationally can be a long process. For an international student to study in the

United States they need to get a student visa, which can take a while. Being an international

student in America is more expensive. International students can apply for scholarships, but they

cannot get student loans. It will be harder for students who don't know English because

everything in America is in English. Some people know other languages that can help you out

but when it comes to signs, reading, and school everything is in English. Other countries have

their options in different languages. For example, a sign on the street for directions in America

will just be in English but in some other countries, it will be in their language and English or

even Spanish.

Schools in the United States are more likely to have violence than in other countries.

While other countries do have violence, America is known for bullying, fights, and school

shootings. In other countries like China, this type of behavior doesn't happen often because of

how strict they are, and the student's main purpose is to focus on their studies. School shootings
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do happen in other countries like Canada or the UK, but it happens more often in the United

States.

Schools in different countries discipline their students differently. In the United States

they first give a warning then detention, then suspension, and if its serious expulsion. They also

have different types of detention such as in school's detention, lunch detention, regular detention,

and 2-hour detentions. In many other countries, they beat their students to teach them discipline.

In America, it's unacceptable for teachers to hit their students and it will result in them getting

fired and could even get charges pressed against them but in other countries it's normal.

In America, certain grades have their buildings. Elementary school, middle school, and high

school all have their own buildings. In many other countries, all grades are under one building.

Most schools in America are also coed. In Jordan, all grades are under one building and one side

of the building is for girls and the other side is for the boys. While not all schools in Jordan

separate boys and girl's majority of them do.

Each country has its level of strictness when it comes to drugs, especially in schools.

Students all over the world do drugs but schools try their hardest to stop that. In America, drugs

are not allowed at all on school property and if they suspect you have any drugs, they will search

your locker, bag, and even your car. If you're caught with it you will get kicked out of school. In

Italy, they are less strict when it comes to drugs. Smoking cigarettes is normal, so they aren't as

strict when it comes to drugs. In Jordan, they are somewhat strict when it comes to drugs. If they

suspect you have drugs they will search your belongings and if you're caught with it best case

scenario they take it from you and worst case they call your parents but they wouldn't kick you

out of school.
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As many differences as there are between each country's school system, they do have

similarities. “The number of years that students are required to study is almost the same”

(Arribas). Almost all countries require their students to take basic classes such as math and

science. Many country's schools also teach second languages such as Spanish or French.

Each country has its system and its ways of doing things in school. Not many people

know the different ways students from other countries learn. Since experiencing studying in a

different country, myself it opened my eyes to how different each country decides to set up their

schools. In the end, all country's goals are to teach their students, but they do it in completely

different ways.
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References

Arribas, Janoc. "SPAIN VS. US: What are the Differences Between the Education Systems?" the

harbour voice, theharbourvoice.org, October 23 2019. http://www.theharbourvoice.org/

opinion /spain-vs-us-what-are-the-differences-between-the-education-systems

Berger, Raqota, “The Problem with Dropping Out and Why Students Leave School Before

Graduating” International Journal of Psychological Research and Reviews, February

2019, pdfs.semanticscholar, https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/aee5/b9aa900232b1ca7ea

4dbf449285c718d0267.pdf

Lynch, Matthew. "How Do Chinese and American Educational Systems Compare" the

Edvocate. Theedadvocate.org, June 7 2019. https://www.theedadvocate.org/how-do-

chinese-and-american-educational-systems-compare/

McMichael, Celia. “Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) in Schools in Low-Income

Countries: A Review of Evidence of Impact.” International Journal of Environmental

Research and Public Health 16.3 (2019): 359. Crossref. Web.

<http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16030359>.

Wilkins, Vanessa and Corrigan, Emily. "What US Schools Can Learn From Finland’s Approach

to Education" Standford Social Innovation Review Informing and Inspiring Leaders of

Social Change. Ssir.org November 6 2019, https://ssir.org/articles/entry/what_us_

schools_can_learn_from_finlands_approach_to_education#