Finland Takes Number One Spot In OECD's Latest PISA Survey

See what happens if you give people free education. In Finland you only pay for the books and the food after the 9th grade. Before that everything's free. And this is where it leads you:

Finland #1 at 563 points. (Hong Kong #2 at 542 points, average was 500 points.)

Finland takes number one spot in OECD's latest PISA survey, advance figures show

29/11/2007 - Finland once again takes the number one spot in OECD's three-yearly PISA test of the abilities of a sample of 15-year old secondary-school students, followed by Hong Kong (China) and Canada in second and third place, according to advance details of results that will be published in full next week.

(Read the full article.)

04/12/2007 OECD’s PISA survey shows some countries making significant gains in learning outcomes

Links to the results:
Download the PDF of Volume 1 (Analysis 6MB)
Download the PDF of Volume 2 (Data 5.2MB)

Finland had the most equal students (as in, the best and the worst were quite on the same level), and the schools were also most equal compared to each other. The difference between schools was 6% when the average was 34%. 95% of the Finnish students fulfilled the basic requirements in all areas; the average was only 80%. Socioeconomic background had little or no effect in Finland. Yet the money Finland uses per pupil is in the average range. And the lowest in Nordic countries. Only in Mathematics Taiwan got a bit better score.

I guess it works when no child is left behind, thanks to excellent teachers, good learning material and free schools for those who want to study.