You have exactly hit the nail on it head. I have discussed this with my husband many times about the difference between the education in Canada/America and the UK/Hong Kong, and what he thinks is that when universal education was developed in Canada and US, it was to serve the large rural population of the time, hence the very long summer holidays (to enable the students to help in the farm in summer - the growing period is short in the northern climate), etc. He told me that when he was young, many young people were able to go into secondary education only because of their families were assured that they could help out in summer. To me, it seems that the model for basic education in North America has never really departed from this mould.
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