Admittedly most countries worldwide will have different sets of criteria from others ... and it is the prerogative of each to determine its own levels of standard according to how it sees fit. That's only to be expected. But bear in mind that, in all schools throughout the Philippines, English [albeit "Americanised" English] is the medium of instruction from Grade 1 Elementary onwards ... right up to High School "graduation" (as it's known) and beyond. And tell me
... how many "western" schoolchildren are ever likely to become anything like as fluent in any foreign language - let alone Tagalog,
say - at the tender ages of five or six???
