In my earlier comment (which did not go through) I noted that I think there is a lot to better in the system, but I think many countries could learn from some of the things in the Finnish system if these things are special.
Also, the thing I hate most about the school system is grades. Grades are the ultimate motivation killer. They lead your attention to something useless, instead of the learning itself. In Finland they luckily only start that non-sense on the fourth grade, and then eventually increase it. Before that there are no grades you need to worry about.
If you think about it, the concept of grades is specifically insidious: It is a very unidimensional measurement of the value of students, as if you are doing quality control on products. The insidious part is that if you don't meet "the standard" you are discarded as if you have no value... Many people that have wonderful talents are discarded by this system because it is inept to develop anything but the standard curriculum, anybody that does not fit is simply shunted aside.
Ironically many creative people who don't do well in standardized schooling are the ones who will be better placed in the idea economy than the obedient A+ students...
I think this sums it up:
