In India they have competitive admission tests for toddlers into pre-school/kindergarden.

The good news is that it did not seem, in observation, to scar the population for life - except perhaps give them an aversion to learning - but it did give me anxiety about school, even though I joined this particular game when I was a teenager.

I was hoping other countries would not adopt such an inhumane way of admitting/assessing children but I see a wider adoption in the United States and I have heard it has been a system for a while in Japan.

When resources are limited I think you should do a lottery (and explicitly say its a lottery) so that children have no shame when they don't get in or destructive pride when they do.

Anyone have a list of countries where they do this kind of testing for pre-schoolers/kindergardeners?