Incorrect. If you take a look at the 2018 PISA rankings [1] the top is dominated by Asian and East European countries. Is it a coincidence that ex-Soviet countries which had a strong state focus on STEM are top ranked? Or that the top 10 contains basically every 1st world Asian country (Japan, South Korea, and the Asian city states)?

[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Programme_for_International_St...