I comment now to note that first of all hours at school don’t necessarily mean hours studying and also to note that the gradual pressure and high stakes nature may show up far more in the mega cities of Beijing and Shanghai and may be less pronounced elsewhere.

As a final comment, they are taking steps to Westernize and the school across from us now puts younger kids in table groups and do specific cooperative activities in their classes. It’s a challenge to balance with the testing they do, but I’d me more concerned about their ability to implement best practice in a sweeping way across millions of schools than I would be concerned with the amount of time spent in classes… Finland puts teachers in front of kids far less than both the US and China and can still be at the top of the global standings.