While the Nordic and East Asian countries are widely recognized for their high-quality education, ignoring Canada would be a disservice.
After all, Canada was among several countries to earn a spot in the top 10 for the PISA tests in reading, math, and science.
In fact, Canada has been referred to as the “education superpower” since it has the highest percentage of adults who have received a post-secondary education.
What the Data Shows
Conducted by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) tests focus on the educational performance of different countries.
According to the results, Canadian teenagers are significantly ahead of their peers in the United States, the United Kingdom, and France.
Aside from that, Canada boasts the highest proportion of adults undertaking higher education, having an average rate of 55%.
Meanwhile, the average rate for adults who have received higher education in the OECD countries is only 35%.
Upon closer inspection, the data reveals that three Canadian provinces would emerge in the top five science spots, if they were treated as individual countries.
In this case, according to the given data, Quebec, Alberta, and British Columbia would all appear on par with Japan and Singapore, even overtaking Hong Kong and Finland in this subject.
Typically, other high performers are cohesive and compact societies like Singapore, where education is integrated into the national strategy.
Why Canada Excels in Education
The fact that Canada provides its students with a world-class education is even more remarkable, considering it does not have a national education system.
Instead, each Canadian province and territory develops its own high-quality education system and curriculum.
Part of Canada’s success in the education field can be attributed to immigrant students, who make up over one-third of Canadian young adults.
Even newly-arrived immigrant children appear to integrate and quickly perform at a high level in school, unlike new immigrant children in other countries.
Many immigrants who live in Canada also come from ambitious and well-educated families with high expectations of their children.
This is particularly true for skilled foreign workers who immigrate to Canada through the Express Entry system for economic immigrants.
According to Andreas Schleicher, the education director of the OECD, equity is also essential in Canada.
Equal access and fairness seem to contribute to the strong academic performance of local students.
Another factor is that teachers in Canada receive good pay compared to other countries.
The country is very selective of new educators as well.
Conclusion
In conclusion, children who are born in Canada, as well as immigrant children who move to Canada, generally receive a high-quality education and do well in school, which can help to prepare them for good-paying Canadian jobs.
Furthermore, both Canadian-born adults and adults who immigrate to Canada have access to highly-rated universities in Canada, many of which are ranked among the top 100 best universities in the world (examples include the University of Toronto and the University of British Columbia).
Thus, individuals and families, children and adults, native-born Canadians and immigrants and, of course, international students, can receive an excellent education in Canada which can open the door to good career opportunities throughout life.
