HK students stay ahead globally

HONG Kong has ranked second among 76 countries in a study by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD, 經濟合作及發展組織).

The OECD report entitled Universal Basic Skills: What Countries Stand to Gain used data gathered from Maths and Science tests taken by 15-year-old students in the 76 countries.

Hong Kong scored 558.1 points overall, just slightly lower than Singapore’s (新加坡) 562.5. Although the SAR beat Singapore in Science test scores by over three points, Hong Kong was outclassed in the Maths results by more than 12 points.

Asian countries dominated the top of the list, with South Korea (南韓) third and Japan (日本) and Taiwan (台灣) in joint fourth.

The five lowest-ranked countries are Oman (阿曼), Morocco (摩洛哥 ), Honduras (洪都拉斯 ) and South Africa (南非 ), with Ghana (加納) in last place. Britain (英國) is in 20th position and the United States (美國) in 28th.

Co-authors Stanford University’s (史丹福大學) Eric Hanushek and Munich University’s (慕尼黑大學 ) Ludger Woessmann used the globally recognised Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA, 學生能力國際評估計畫) and the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS,國際數學與科學教育成就趨勢調查) tests to compile the OECD report.

OECD education director Andreas Schleicher told the BBC (英國廣播公司) the study was the biggest publication of global education rankings.

He said the results showed that the quality of schooling in a country is a powerful predictor of the wealth that countries will produce in the long-term.

Macau (澳門) would have placed eighth on the list with scores of 538 points in Mathematics and 521 points in Science, but it did not have the relevant gross domestic product data required to enter the list.

(The Standard, Kevin Cheng, 14 May 2015)

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
www.oecd.org

Universal Basic Skills – What Countries Stand to Gain
www.slideshare.net/OECDEDU/universal-basic-skillswhat-countries-stand-to-gain