I am coming from the country which is the top list in this article. I did surprise when I knew some of my regular high school math curriculum are AP classes in US, though not all the students got into high school and not all high school students selected science/engineering as their major.
Many Asian countries focus on academic too much. Back in my days, before we entered college, school work was the obligation of every students. Grade was the only thing how people judged you. Especially the math grade, it is the index to tell a kid is smart or not. Parents, teachers put a lot of pressure on students. If we didn't meet teachers expectation, it was not unusual to be beaten by teachers. We didn't know what is "learning for fun", only high achievement was what we worth. I was lucky that my parents didn't put too much pressure on me, but the whole environment push me as well.
I don't know too much detail of educational system about our next generation. I know it is not better than my days. Most of families need double income. Some of children stay at afterschool until 8pm. They don't have playground in afterschool, students need to finish homework or repeat practicing school work. If the kid is lucky and doesn't need to go to afterschool, many of them still need to go to tutoring class since elementary. They don't have as much as time to play or talk to parents like my kids. This is how the country earns highest rating in math.
In US, kids have more diversity life and more time to enjoy themselves. I want my kids to develop their potential but I don't want them to experience the education that I experienced.
