Hard Study for Future: the Cases of Estonia and South Korea

Abstract

The aim of this article is to find out the price of success: what is beyond high achievements in the PISA context? In 2022, Estonia had the 4. Places in the world in the PISA, right after Japan, Singapore and South Korea. In previous PISA (2018), Estonia was a bit better, but still the neighbour of South Korea. In 2014´s PISA (in the field of science), Estonia had the 6. Places, and South Korea was nr. 7 – the neighbours once again. This has been quite interesting evidence, as one country locates in Asia, the other in Europe. What kind of aspects put us together in the PISA list? As the culture (in general) shapes the statistics, the question is: how?  To be the neighbours in this list is not a problem, but students both in Estonia and South Korea are exhausted and depressed. The youth works hard for better future. Is this the price of success or something else? The research method is the secondary data analysis of published materials, found from the Internet. The theoretical background comes from Hofstede.