>>14032102Generally speaking for China, the Chinese education system largely copies from the Soviet and European ones so what I describe probably applies to most parts of the world. It is America where things tend to get different.
The biggest difference is that in China's STEM education, there is no race/gender politics consideration at all.
Before college, the only thing that matters is for the student to excel in the national university entrance exam a.k.a gaokao.
Students' gaokao scores are the most important metric for teachers' and school's job performance metric, so my biggest surprise in the U.S. is that U.S. educators would move to dumb down the education quality or devote resources to special groups in the name of encouraging inclusiveness.
The other thing is the early focus on arithmetics -- the ability to perform calculations with speed and correctness.
It is important because solving Gaokao STEM exams involves computations with very limited use of calculators.
Americans think that computation is a purely mechanical process so just use calculators bro, but I consider the early emphasis on calculation is beneficial.
In the process, students get to develop mental focus and stamina and a familiarity with numbers and mathematical concepts, which is critical when they study more advanced subjects.
For test preparation purposes, the students are drilled daily to solve problems. To do well, one has to be able to endure long hours of focus. I call this ability to maintain focus for a long time the mental stamina, and it can be trained.
