Yet, despite the great success of its education system, Singapore has been reforming it to lay less stress on rote-learning and repetitive tests and more on self-expression.

ECONOMIST: The contest with China moves into the classroom and nursery

And I think that that requires more than just rote learning -- although it certainly requires good habits and discipline in school -- it also requires that in the classroom they're getting the kind of creative teaching that's so important.

WHITEHOUSE: Your Interview with the President

Listed on the New York stock exchange since 2006, its founder Michael Yu (also known as Yu Minhong), became a multi-millionaire on the back of his blend of rote learning exercises, stand-up comedy and motivational speeches.

BBC: Meet the 'tutor kings and queens'

Payment-by-results need not mean learning-by-rote.

ECONOMIST: Teachers�� pay

Delegates claimed that its emphasis on core knowledge was a throw-back to rote learning and uncreative lists of facts.

BBC: ��Pub quiz facts curriculum�� opposed

The education style is rote learning, heavy on facts and figures -- not on analysis or interaction.

CNN: Immersion in China 101: An American teen's story