What’s the first thing that comes to mind when we think of education? You might be thinking of a classroom filled with rows of benches and blackboards, with a teacher standing in front of it and a definite syllabus to guide you through everything to learn. But it doesn’t always have to be like that.
As Martin Luther King Jr. said,
“The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically.”
So education doesn’t always have to follow a definite standard to be impactful as long as it teaches one to think critically.
Here is a list of the most unusual education systems around the world:
Finnish Education System:
The education system in Finland is said to be the best in the world. It involves no standardized test until the end of high school. The Finnish system prioritizes learning over exams. The children in Finland start their comprehensive education program at the age of seven. Before that, they go through a daycare program. The teachers involved in teaching are highly trained and efficient. The expenses of Finnish education are also lower than those of other countries like Canada and Australia.
Boat Schools In Bangladesh:
Every year, due to heavy flooding in the monsoon season, many areas in the northern side of Bangladesh get submerged in water. Basic commodities became challenging during that time. As a result, children in that area lose the chance to attend school and get an education. To combat this problem, many non-profit organizations in Bangladesh have developed a concept called the boat school. As the name suggests, these schools operate on boats and bring education to the students.
Forest Schools:
Forest school focuses on exploring outside in nature. In this education system, children spend a significant portion of time in nature, forests, and parks. It gives students a chance to interact with nature, climb trees, identify different flora and fauna, and build shelters with tree branches. It originated from Scandinavia, Sweden, and Denmark in the 1950s. In recent years, forest schools have been expanding across the world, like the USA, UK. Studies have shown that forest schools have increased physical movement, improved cognitive development, social skills. Forest schools have also helped decrease obesity rates and symptoms of ADHD.
Cave School in China:
In the southwest region of China, the Miao suffered from a lack of food and water because of desertification. So naturally the lack of resources also reached to schooling. Since the government didn’t take any steps, the Miao people took matters into their own hands and chose a cave for a school, which became known as Dongzhong mid-cave primary school with 8 teachers and 186 students. Despite the bare interior, the cave in its natural habitat became a heaven for instruction in Biology. Unfortunately, the Chinese government shut it down in early 2011. But on the silver lining, outrage after shut shutdown has brought modernized facilities to the people of Miao.
No Grading in New Zealand:
New Zealand’s education system focuses on formative assessment of students instead of traditional grades in early school years. Students get descriptive feedback, allowing them to grow without the pressure of grades affecting their motivation or self-esteem. This system creates a love for learning. Formal assessments begin only in high school, providing a smoother transition for students. When compared to other education systems around the world, New Zealand’s approach encourages personal development over competition. New Zealand doesn’t follow the regular grading system that we typically know in other countries. However, they have a different approach to grading that works in a much more positive way than the regular grading system.
While the traditional grading system may be beneficiary for usual necessities, these unusual education systems give us a glimpse of other types of education systems that have also helped around the world and left a positive impact.
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Writer
Sarah Zahir
Intern
Content Writing Department
YSSE