The three main reasons are: size, language and research funding.
The best higher education institutions in France are the "Grande Écoles", which are very small compared to North American univesities. Around 500 students graduate each year from the École polytechnique, for example. Although there are a lot more students who study to be accepted at these écoles, they do so in another parallel system called "classes préparatoires". Which is in its self separate from French university system.
The French language does play another important role. France has not adopted english as much as Germany or the Scandinavian countries have. Publication is almost always done in French. Although my American friends tell me things have improved a lot in the past 10 years.
Finally, although french universities and grand écoles perform basic and applied research, a majority of the work is done at public research labs. Their scientific results are attached to the lab, which are not part of the universities. Although they can often be in the same location.
Nonetheless, if you ever have the opportunity and get accepted by one of these écoles do not hesitate to go. They are very good schools.
Whatever the underlying factor is, it has nothing to do with the school system.
This cannot possibly be true. School system are artificial constructions created by men to serve men. They are not given laws of nature. The only thing we can tell from the above is that the current school system does not serve well black Americans. School system should adapt to whatever the "cultural factors" of the populace they serve.
Whether this should be through prolonging schooling hours; providing stronger and more persistent emphasis in personal hard work; correcting a harmful self-image; getting rid of institutional racism; using different instruction techniques; or any other method that may addressed the "underlying factor" can only be discovered through research, experimentation and a willingness to change and adapt.
It is easy to find examples of a schooling that adapts to the unique circumstances of some children, for example: intense language training for children from immigrant families, schools at hospitals or schools that follow a circus around the world (http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2007/jan/26/schools.uk).
I do not know your code, but you might be able to guess this from what the user types and skip the configuration option. If someone consistently enters two spaces you can then assume that when there is only one space it is a mistake.