Bright but disadvantaged boys who do well at the end of primary school fall behind by GCSE according to researchers analysing data on high achieving children.
Officials in France are seeking to use reforms to improve equity in education, but some teachers and parents suggest the changes may increase the educational divide. One concern is that schools would gain greater autonomy over lessons, which some say could create more differences across the system.
The students in Shanghai are outperforming their peers in other countries in basic skills by a vast margin, according to Andreas Schleicher, director of education and skills at the OECD, who shared the data during a recent education briefing.
Some students in Hong Kong are using their time after school to learn computer coding at a private learning centre called First Code Academy. The lessons are aimed to prepare students for jobs that require programming skills.