Stupid question, but how are the Fins doing so good at hard science?

I think my question already shows that I have no clue how education really works.

After seeing some documentaries about the extreme competitive education in South Korea and China and how the students are learning 10hours+ a day, Im really curious how the Fins actually keep up. I understand the talk about freetime to be mentally relieved and happy, but how does it help solving science problems?

Will a student learning math for 4 hours a week be as good as a student who learns 20 hours in i.e. math? Is the marginal gain of increased education so low after a certain point, that the "outer educational growth" outweights the extra hours in performance in the given subject?

Seeing Finlad sharing top ranks with the high pressure societies Japan, South Korea and China made me wonder: Which educational model actually produces the smartest adults?

Is there fundamental research about the optimal amount of education? If you have any pointers, Id be really glad! Thank you.

Submitted February 18, 2019 at 06:53PM by Fotm_Abuser http://bit.ly/2GQdR98