This culture, bless its heart, is a memorization culture instead of a rationalization culture. Schools are pitiful at best, and problem solving is, well, a problem. Let me give you an example from hanging out with some staff yesterday...

Piet, Visnah, and I were talking about how many kids they each wanted and how many I'll want once I'm married etc. The conversation turned to how old we are. Piet told me his age but I didn't believe him because he looks so much younger. He then told me the year he was born and in doing the math, he truly is 37. OK, my bad. Visnah's turn. He said he's 32. Piet asked what year he was born and he said he didn't know because his mom never told him. I did the quick subtraction and told him what year he was born and he seemed thankful. Had it never occurred to him before to subtract and figure it out? When it came to me I told them my age, and then they asked me what year that meant I was born too. Had I had paper I would've shown them how to do the math, which may be a better idea than the English they asked me to teach them.

If the basic early education doesn't teach kids to problem solve I'm afraid this country will stay exactly where it is, accepting handouts and the work of outsiders instead of being able to tackle its own issues. Doggone it.