So we are "behind" in education

and we need to be "more like Singapore"?
Hold it right there. 
My godchildren are Chinese. One is now at university in Singapore and the other is in high school in Singapore.
They are both highly intelligent and yes, they have done well in the Singapore school system. They can read and write and do their maths. They know their science.
But  is the system really that good? 
In their case their mother has seen to  it that they have also had music lessons and that they gained physical skills in self-defence and they have been  skiing in Switzerland and Japan. With encouragement from me they have done some art and craft.
They are both great people and I am proud of them.
I also know that they are not typical products of Singaporean education. Their parents are both professional people who earn good incomes. They have tried to give their children extra experiences.
Why?
Singapore is a tightly controlled society. It is so tightly controlled that the sort of underwear a child wears to school can, if not of the approved kind, result in a letter to a parent.  (No, I am not trying to be funny. It happened to their mother.)
The school system is also tightly controlled. Discipline is strict. Learning tends to be very formal. Creativity is only encouraged within the guidelines laid down.
You can go to an English medium or a Chinese medium school. You can learn Chinese in one or English in the other. You might also learn a second foreign language. 
It all works for a tiny, over-crowded island. Anything less than this would almost certainly mean that so many people could not live in such a small space.
It doesn't necessarily mean that it is good.
Finland also also ranks well in education. They don't do things the same way at all. Classes tend to be small in Finland. Education is seen as very important. But, they don't have "prep" or "homework". They encourage a lot more physical activity in Finland. Children are not kept inside except in the most extreme weather. They encourage a lot more creativity and interaction.  Most children know some English before they start school. They get BBC Playschool on television - in English. It is just accepted that you learn English - and most of them learn another language as well such as Russian or German or Swedish. They rank highly on other areas too - science, maths, happiness (if such a thing as "happiness" can really be measured.)
It would be impossible to bring either education system into our schools but there is the report in this morning's paper saying we need to be more like Singapore. 
I wonder how much the report's author knows about Finland?