[Marilyn H.]

Does it not seem that in countries such as France, the level of intellectual/academic standards seems to be of a higher and better quality than in countries such as the United States and Great Britain?

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Name : Marilyn H., Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Bisexual, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Agnostic, Age : 29, City : Boulogne, State : NA Country : France, Occupation : Student, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class, 

[Astorian]

My sense is that, while a graduate of an elite secondary school in France is much better educated than an 18-year-old graduate from an American high school, French colleges and universities are woefully inferior to America's better colleges and universities. Moreover, while France's schools do a good job in some respects, they do a very poor job at producing innovative thinkers and inventors. Think about it - when is the last time you heard of a French firm coming up with cutting-edge technology? And when students from around the world wish to study engineering or computer science, where do they go? To France? Hardly. They flock to American colleges. Indeed, outstanding French science or technology students prefer American colleges!

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Name : Astorian, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Catholic, Age : 38, City : Austin, State : TX Country : United States, Occupation : Programmer, Education level : 4 Years of College, 

[Kent]

One thing distinguishes French education: High school students learn philosophy - clear thinking outside of ideology. Americans, and Australians like me, carry lots of ideological baggage, which is difficult to abandon.

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Name : Kent, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Episcopalian, City : Melbourne, State : NA Country : Australia, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class, 

[Beth]

Of course most French people think they are superior in education to the English, and of course Americans think they are far superior to Europeans, and of course English people think they are better-educated than the French and Americans.

Having a different education system from yours doesn't make it inferior, just different. Of course there is good and bad in all of our systems, but not one more so than the other.

I must add that I have never noticed any difference in the abilities of French, American or British scientists I have encountered in the global scientific community.

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Name : Beth, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Atheist, Age : 24, City : Edinburgh, State : NA Country : United Kingdom, Occupation : Post Graduate Student, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Onewanda]

That would be why the French are the captains of industry and intellect, eh? I think it depends on the school, the students, the teachers, the parents and the town in which the school is located.

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Name : Onewanda, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Bisexual, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 27, City : NYC, State : NY Country : United States, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Nelson A.]

The world in general considers Americans to be one of the most efficient, productive and ignorant of people. Ignorant? Notice how Marilyn from France asks about educational 'standards'. High School Education in the USA is working-market oriented. It's standard is lower than that of many underdeveloped countries. This is because it seeks to produce an efficient and goal-concentrated working force. The reasoning is: If you're going to be a blue-collar worker, why know anything about andeanone civilization, deuteron usage in neptunium or the works of Niccolò Machiavelli? If any student proves to be above this working force standard, he will be encouraged to continue studying at a higher level (college). Of course this is the minority. Now, those that do go to college will receive the most complete education in their field, in the undisputed world's most competent Universities, all of them American (Harvard, Yale, Stanford, etc). This is the reason for productive succes. The bad part, Americans are the best at what they do but they know nothing about anything else, worse, they don't care. The entertainement industry doesn't help either. The exceptional Discovery Channel was created precisely to fight the uncultural Mtv, Wrestling, the Malls, Nintendo, football, etc. While there are teen 'mall rats' in the USA, in France there are teen 'museum rats', get the picture? Agreed, Americans in general are undercultured and ignorant according to world standards, but are the best in their respective fields. Undisputed.

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Name : Nelson A., Gender : M, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Catholic, Age : 30, City : Caracas, State : NA Country : Venezuela, Occupation : Lawyer/Business, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Simon28003]

Being careful to separate education from employment or any other related issue, I think the answer is that the French and British education systems are probably better than the USA, but not by much. Basic Stats on Adult Literacy: (source - AskJeeves.com) USA - 97% (1979 est.) France - 99% (1980 est.) UK - 99% (1978 est.) OK, Adult literacy is a broad indicator at best and should not be taken as the only indicator of education, but it works as a quick and dirty signpost. The USA is working at a significant disadvantage to the UK and France. It has no common curriculum and allows politicians, not educators, control over key aspects of the local curriculum (recent high profile example Kansas and Evolution\Creationism). The political system favours low taxation which means that education does not recieve than same level of funding that is seen in the UK and France where taxation is generally higher. There is also the fact that the US education system does not require student to specialise until much later in their education and generally has a shorter academic year than is seen in Europe. At the same time as this it does have a very healthy adult education system (possibly a response to the weaknesses of the primary education system, possibly due to other cultural differences).

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Name : Simon28003, City : Oakland, State : CA Country : United States, 

[Nina]

My parents are french but i live in new zealand so i have seen both education systems. I have never been to school in france but know quite a lot about it from cousins and parents. The education system in france is really academic and pushed, but not necesarily better than anywhere else. Apparently kids in french schools get heaps and heaps of information piled on them to learn and memorise. In my school, the work is actually a lot easier, and school's more relaxed, but we discuss issues and opinions more. so my parents, having gone through the french system, know a lot more history than i ever will, but they hated school and learning, and only know a lot on specific topics.

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Name : Nina, Gender : F, Religion : Atheist, Age : 15, City : auckland, State : NA Country : New Zealand, 

[Sandrine]

I've been mostly educated in France (as well as Ireland and Spain) and I agree that the learning systems are quite different. To me, secondary education is very good in France,probably one of the best in the world, although universities are probably a lot better in the U.S.(but considering the financial cost of education over there, it is not surprising). University is free in France as everybody is allowed to have an education. It is a well known fact that French-educated scientists and computer designers are excellent but they eventually all go work to the U.S because the working conditions in this field is disastrous in France(no money is invested, you understand). But I agree that each system is different, and hardly comparable.

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Name : Sandrine, Gender : F, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Agnostic, Age : 24, City : Dublin, State : NA Country : Ireland, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, 

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