3 – South Korea
SPI Index: 64.2
South Korea has a system where it offers free education for all children who are between 6 and 15 years old and high school students who are between 15 and 18 years old have to pay tuition, which is subsidized by the government. The country spends an astonishing 15% of its national budget on education. There is also a big focus on education in the household where it’s common to have “study sessions”. The negative effect of this type of educational system is that the highly competitive structure has lead to an increase in suicide rates among young Koreans.
