>>11937080East Europe here. I assume in eastern Europe it is a cultural change. Even though soviet union was shit, there were opportunities and encouragement from goverment that if you are smart then study a STEM subject and become a scientist, you likely won't become rich but you will have comfortable life that allows to pursue your passion.
All that is gone now. Studying hard is not respected anymore. Teachers are not respected anymore, by students, by their parents and also by goverment. School curriculum has been dumbed down because otherwise most pupils would fail and teachers have no authority to actually enforce order in class and make people focus and study. The curriculum itself has been changed into a more social version where discussion is encouraged, where wrong answer doesn't exist and everyone is more or less right. Hard theory is long gone. Environment like this cannot and will not produce a single great mind, it will in fact produce a below average people with no academic ability.
