Education Around the World
International school years look much different than ours.
May 2021
Script
This video is part of our Kite & Key Shorts series — easy to understand ... but hard to forget.
Every student would like more vacation time — but some kids have it harder than others.
South Korean students get just eight weeks off from schooli each year; that’s half as much time off as American students get.ii
In fact, the typical American student would be out of place in most countries.
Most American public schools require students to spend 180 days a year in the classroom.iii
That shakes out to about 1,000 hours of instruction per year.iv
Costa Rica leads the world with 1,147 hours of classroom instruction while Russia comes in last, with just 598 hours.v
And not all school days are created equal.
Finnish students get a 75-minute breakvi every day; that’s more than twice as long as the typical American recess.vii
Most French studentsviii have Wednesdays off.
And Taiwanese students go to school for eight hours a day.ix
School may look different around the world ... but all nations have at least one thing in common: No one likes cafeteria food.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:
- Most public schools in America require students to spend 180 days a year in the classroom.
- Finnish students get a 75-minute break every day.
- South Korean students spend the most time in school, with just 8 weeks off each year.
Sources
- “Statistic of the Month: How Much Time Do Students Spend In School?” — National Center on Education and the Economy
- Ibid.
- “Table 5.14. Number of instructional days and hours in the school year, by state: 2018” — National Center for Education Statistics
- “School days: How the U.S. compares with other countries” — Pew Research Center
- "Instruction Time In Compulsory Education” — OECD
- “The Global Search for Education: A Look at a Finnish School” — Huffington Post
- “Time to Play: Recognizing The Benefits of Recess.” — American Federation of Teachers
- “Mobiles banned, 4-day week: French reforms kick in as kids head back to school” — France 24
- “Statistic of the Month: How Much Time Do Students Spend In School?” — National Center on Education and the Economy
Shownotes
SOUND: GOING ON VACATION, ROB MCALLISTER
FOOTAGE: UNSPLASH (SUBHASH NUSETTI)
CITED SOURCES AND NEWS OUTLETS ARE NOT AFFILIATED WITH THIS PRODUCTION.
Sources
- National Center on Education and the Economy
“Statistic of the Month: How Much Time Do Students Spend In School?” (Jennifer Craw) - National Center for Education Statistics
“Table 5.14. Number of instructional days and hours in the school year, by state: 2018”
- Pew Research Center
“School days: How the U.S. compares with other countries” (Drew Desilver)
- OECD
"Instruction Time In Compulsory Education”
- Huffington Post
“The Global Search for Education: A Look at a Finnish School” (C.M. Rubin)
- American Federation of Teachers
“Time to Play: Recognizing The Benefits of Recess.” (Catherine Ramstetter, Dr. Robert Murray)
- France 24
“Mobiles banned, 4-day week: French reforms kick in as kids head back to school” (Claire Mufson)
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