>
> Far as I know this is correct, and not just in the FSU, but also in the whole
> ex-Bloc. But that probbaly has to do with it being a European-style school
> system with a different mission than with its being state socialist. I don't
> think Soviet education was superior to, say, German, French, or Italian
> education. jks
Then again, I went to a Jesuit school in Brazil until I was 14. Admittedly, that was elite, but when I first went to Australia, I knew more about English grammar than most kids in my public school in Canberra, though I could only barely get along in English. There is something wacky about anglo-saxon (working class) education. I remember getting a huge shock at how strict and unfriendly teachers were at my new school and I couldn't believe that we had to spend the entire day at school. The Jesuits had been warmer people and they hadn't insisted on being called Sir, they had loved arguing, whereas my new teachers were not really all that cluey or motivated to engage anyone. Least of all each other. They were probably very stressed, but I remember Australian schools feeling like jail. I still think that that was probably right: their function was more to discipline than to teach.
Thiago Oppermann