10 Countries that have the Happiest Students in the World

You will be surprised to discover that many of 10 countries that have the happiest students in the world aren’t highly developed economies, but regions with low GDP and high rates of poverty, where children don’t have the privilege of owning latest iPhones or Macs. It seems that factors influencing student happiness have little to do with state’s wealth or amount of money that a country invests in knowledge. On this list you won’t find any of countries from our ranking 10 Countries That Spend the Most on Education per Student.

Many researches show that the main factor contributing to students’ well-being is the quality of relationship which students build with their teachers and peers. Children are happiest with teachers who treat them fairly, who express empathy and understanding, and who give them support and encouragement. At the same time, having close friends at school and not suffering bullying equally contribute to students’ satisfaction. Curriculum is less important when it comes to students’ happiness. However, it should be noted that students whose curriculum includes activities outside classroom are happier than their peers who don’t enjoy outdoor activities.

Interestingly, physical conditions in school (furniture, equipment, space) have almost no influence on students’ happiness, which might explain why children from low-income countries, where school infrastructure is in much worse state than in developed countries, are happier compared to their peers from high-income regions.

We created the list 10 countries that have the happiest students in the world using as a source PISA survey conducted in 2012 among 510 000 students between the ages of 15 and 16 from 65 countries. For the first time, students who did PISA test were asked to evaluate their happiness in school and this ranking is based on their answers. At the same time PISA asked principals whether teachers in their schools value the social and emotional development of the students as much as the students’ academic proficiency. It turns out that schools where teachers put equal emphasize on students’ emotional well-being and academic success have greater number of happy students.

10. Iceland

Percentage of students who report being happy at school: 90.4

With GDP $38,000 per capita, Iceland is the wealthiest country on our list. One of the most interesting facts about education in Iceland is that students can easily drop out from school and reenter later in life. As a matter of fact, many students graduate from upper secondary schools after the age of 25.

9. Kazakhstan

Percentage of students who report being happy at school 90.5

Recent economic growth allowed the former Soviet Union republic Kazakhstan to open dozens of new schools across the country. This is the state with the lowest non-attendance rate among primary and secondary school children on our list. Moreover, Kazakhstan can be proud of the fact that children generally have equal access to education regardless of gender, and their socio-economic backgrounds.

8. Costa Rica

Percentage of students who report being happy at school 90.6

Costa Rica is a place where the happiest people on planet live, at least that’s what Happy Planet Index claims. Since children and adolescents account for nearly one-third of the state population, it is not a surprise that young Costa Ricans found their place on this list. Still, it should be mentioned that one of the problems which Costa Rica’s educational system faces is high non-attendance rate among secondary school students. The rate is as high as 18.4 percent partly because great number of children from immigrant and indigenous families are out of the system.

7. Mexico

Percentage of students who report being happy at school 90.9

Mexico has one of the youngest nation in the world with 35 percent of population under the age of 18. Although in recent years, Mexico’s economy has been expanding (in 2011 the annual growth rate was 4%, and in 2014, 2.1%), one of the major challenges it faces is great difference in income, especially between urban and rural regions, which affects children access to education. In poorer parts of Mexico, children drop out from school to work.

6. Malaysia

Percentage of students who report being happy at school 91.4

In Malaysia significant number of children don’t attend primary school, and dropout rate is high, especially among rural children. While the country has a lot to do to improve access and quality of primary and secondary education, when it comes to higher education Malaysia has become regional center in south-east Asia, by developing cooperation with foreign universities, opening new colleges and attracting young people from all over the world to study in Malaysia.

5. Colombia

Percentage of students who report being happy at school 92.2

Colombia is fifth country on our list 10 countries that have the happiest students in the world. This comes as a surprise given the serious violation of children rights in the country. Continuous armed conflicts between the government and guerrilla groups have left millions displaced, including great number of children who don’t have access to education. Moreover, Colombia is notorious for recruitment of child soldiers, despite the law prohibiting the use of children under age 18 in the National Army. However, it seems that Colombians know how to preserve optimism since the country ranked third on Happy Planet Index, which also might explain its place on this list.

4. Thailand

Percentage of students who report being happy at school 93.5

While Thailand’s educational system faces many challenges, including poor performance on standardized tests (for instance, it ranked among lowest on PISA test), the country has made tremendous improvements by increasing the enrolment rate for primary school age children by almost 10 percents and the enrolment rate for secondary school age children by 17 percents.

3. Peru

Percentage of students who report being happy at school 93.6

Like Thailand, Peru has increased enrollment rate for primary and secondary school. However, almost third of the children aged between 5 and 17 work, which might mean that some children who are enrolled at school don’t actually attend classes. The other similarity between Peru and Thailand are low results on standardized tests. Peru holds the last place on PISA ranking, with lowest scores in all three areas: mathematics, reading and science.

2. Albania

Percentage of students who report being happy at school 94

According to Unicef, one of the poorest countries in Europe Albania has made important improvements in regards to primary education enrollment and gender equality in recent years. Unlike other countries, in Albania children from rural areas have higher enrollment, attendance, and competition rates during primary school than their peers from urban areas. However, urban children have much better access to secondary education – attendance rate among students from urban areas is 50 percent higher than attendance rate among rural children.

1. Indonesia

Percentage of students who report being happy at school 95.7

Indonesia is the first country on our list 10 Countries that have the Happiest Students in the World. However, young Indonesians had extremely poor results in mathematics, reading and science, and Indonesia ranked as 64th of 65 countries on PISA test. The reason behind the poor results is slow reform of education system, which, according to some, forces children to memorize facts instead of understanding them.