How do Finnish kids excel without rote learning and standardized testing?

I came across a tweet from Steph Ladbrooke@learnbuzz containing the following link; it is an article exploring why the approach taken by Finnish Education is so successful.  Well worth a read!

http://m.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/economy/canada-competes/how-do-finnish-kids-excel-without-rote-learning-and-standardized-testing/article11810188/?service=mobile