Global Education Rankings (2022)

How Does Your Child’s Education Stand Up Globally? The results were just released in December 2023.

The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is an international assessment conducted by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) that aims to answer this very question. PISA evaluates and compares the performance of 15-year-old students in reading, mathematics, and science across countries. The assessment is conducted every three years, and it provides valuable insights into how well education systems are preparing students for future challenges.

Key features of the PISA test include:

1. Focus on Real-World Skills: PISA assesses students’ ability to apply their knowledge and skills to real-world problems and scenarios, emphasizing the application of knowledge rather than rote memorization.
2. Rotational Design: PISA employs a rotational design, meaning that not all students take the same test. Instead, each participating country tests a sample of students in one or more of the assessed subjects, allowing for a broad coverage of skills and knowledge.
3. Cross-Disciplinary Assessment: PISA recognizes the interconnected nature of knowledge and skills. For example, the reading assessment may include tasks that involve interpreting information related to science or mathematics.
4. International Comparison: One of the primary purposes of PISA is to compare educational outcomes across countries. The results help policymakers understand how their education systems perform relative to others and identify areas for improvement.
5. Questionnaire Surveys: In addition to the test items, PISA includes questionnaires that gather information from students, teachers, and school principals. These questionnaires provide context and additional insights into the factors that may influence student performance.

PISA does not assess the entire curriculum of participating countries but focuses on a subset of skills that are considered essential for success in the modern world. The results of the assessment are widely used to inform education policy and practice globally.

Here are the results¹:

MATHEMATICS	READING	SCIENCE
1. Singapore 2. Macao (China) 3. Chinese Taipei 4. Hong Kong (China) 5. Japan 6. Korea 7. Estonia 8. Switzerland 9. Canada 10. Netherlands 11. Ireland 12. Belgium 13. Denmark 14. United Kingdom 15. Poland 16. Austria 17. Australia 18. Czech Republic 19. Slovenia 20. Finland 21. Latvia 22. Sweden 23. New Zealand 24. Lithuania 25. Germany 26. France 27. Spain 28. Hungary 29. Portugal 30. Italy 31. Viet Nam 32. Norway 33. Malta 34. United States 35. Slovak Republic 36. Croatia 37. Iceland 38. Israel 39. Türkiye 40. Brunei Darussalam 41. Ukrainian regions (18/27) 42. Serbia 43. United Arab Emirates 44. Greece 45. Romania 46. Kazakhstan 47. Mongolia 48. Cyprus 49. Bulgaria 50. Moldova 51. Qatar 52. Chile 53. Uruguay 54. Malaysia 55. Montenegro 56. Baku (Azerbaijan) 57. Mexico 58. Thailand 59. Peru 60. Georgia 61. Saudi Arabia 62. North Macedonia 63. Costa Rica 64. Colombia 65. Brazil 66. Argentina 67. Jamaica 68. Albania 69. Palestinian Authority 70. Indonesia 71. Morocco 72. Uzbekistan 73. Jordan 74. Panama 75. Kosovo 76. Philippines 77. Guatemala 78. El Salvador 78. Dominican Republic 80. Paraguay 81. Cambodia	1. Singapore 2. Ireland 3. Japan 4. Korea 5. Chinese Taipei 6. Estonia 7. Macao (China) 8. Canada 9. United States 10. New Zealand 11. Hong Kong (China) 12. Australia 13. United Kingdom 14. Finland 15. Denmark 16. Poland 17. Czech Republic 18. Sweden 19. Switzerland 20. Italy 21. Austria 22. Germany 23. Belgium 24. Portugal 25. Norway 26. Croatia 27. Latvia 28. Spain 29. France 30. Israel 31. Hungary 32. Lithuania 33. Slovenia 34. Viet Nam 35. Netherlands 36. Türkiye 37. Chile 38. Slovak Republic 39. Malta 40. Serbia 41. Greece 42. Iceland 43. Uruguay 44. Brunei Darussalam 45. Romania 46. Ukrainian regions (18/27) 47. Qatar 48. United Arab Emirates 49. Mexico 50. Costa Rica 51. Moldova 52. Brazil 53. Jamaica 54. Colombia 55. Peru 56. Montenegro 57. Bulgaria 58. Argentina 59. Panama 60. Malaysia 61. Kazakhstan 62. Saudi Arabia 63. Cyprus 64. Thailand 65. Mongolia 66. Guatemala 67. Georgia 68. Paraguay 69. Baku (Azerbaijan) 70. El Salvador 71. Indonesia 72. North Macedonia 73. Albania 74. Dominican Republic 75. Palestinian Authority 76. Philippines 77. Kosovo 78. Jordan 79. Morocco 80. Uzbekistan 81. Cambodia	1. Singapore 2. Japan 3. Macao (China) 4. Chinese Taipei 5. Korea 6. Estonia 7. Hong Kong (China) 8. Canada 9. Finland 10. Australia 11. New Zealand 12. Ireland 13. Switzerland 14. Slovenia 15. United Kingdom 16. United States 17. Poland 18. Czech Republic 19. Latvia 20. Denmark 21. Sweden 22. Germany 23. Austria 24. Belgium 25. Netherlands 26. France 27. Hungary 28. Spain 29. Lithuania 30. Portugal 31. Croatia 32. Norway 33. Italy 34. Türkiye 35. Viet Nam 36. Malta 37. Israel 38. Slovak Republic 39. Ukrainian regions (18/27) 40. Serbia 41. Iceland 42. Brunei Darussalam 43. Chile 44. Greece 45. Uruguay 46. Qatar 47. United Arab Emirates 48. Romania 49. Kazakhstan 50. Bulgaria 51. Moldova 52. Malaysia 53. Mongolia 54. Colombia 55. Costa Rica 56. Cyprus 57. Mexico 58. Thailand 59. Peru 60. Argentina 61. Montenegro 62. Brazil 63. Jamaica 64. Saudi Arabia 65. Panama 66. Georgia 67. Indonesia 68. Baku (Azerbaijan) 69. North Macedonia 70. Albania 71. Jordan 72. El Salvador 73. Guatemala 74. Palestinian Authority 75. Paraguay 76. Morocco 77. Dominican Republic 78. Kosovo 79. Philippines 80. Uzbekistan 81. Cambodia

* in local language

(About 42% of all 195 countries participated.)

What can we conclude?

So Singapore continues to be a global leader in education. Canada actually beats the UK and USA in the educational landscape. Here are 10 key lessons learned from the PISA assessments²:

1. Keep schools open longer for more students

Across PISA-participating economies, at least half of students experienced COVID-related school closures for three months or more. Systems that spared more students from longer school closures scored higher while their students enjoyed a greater sense of belonging at school.

2. Prepare students for autonomous learning

Students whose teachers were available when schools were closed scored higher in mathematics and were more confident about self-directed learning. Most were confident about using digital learning platforms & finding learning resources, but only 60% were confident about motivating themselves to do schoolwork.

3. Build strong foundations for learning and well-being for all students

More than ten per cent of students in some OECD countries suffer economic food insecurity, others have rates below three per cent. Between one in twenty and one in ten students disagreed that they feel safe in schools on average across OECD countries.

4. Limit the distractions caused by using digital devices in class

Students who spent up to one hour per day on digital devices for learning activities in school scored 14 points higher on average in mathematics than students who spent no time. Enforced cell phone bans in class may help reduce distractions but can also hinder the ability of students to self-regulate their use of the devices.

5. Strengthen school-family partnerships and keep parents involved in student learning

Higher-performing students reported that their family regularly eats the main meal together, spends time just talking with them, or asks them what they did in school that day. They also report better sense of belonging and life satisfaction.

6. Delay the age at selection into different education programmes

In systems where students are selected into different curricular programmes at an earlier age, a stronger association between students’ socio-economic background and their performance is observed.

7. Provide additional support to struggling students instead of requiring them to repeat a grade

Education systems where fewer students had repeated a grade tend to score higher and achieve socio-economic fairness. On average across the OECD, teacher support to students deteriorated from 2012 to 2022. Some 30% of students did not report that the teacher regularly gave extra help when students needed it and continued teaching until students understood.

8. Ensure adequate, high-quality education staff and materials

On average, school principals in 2022 were more likely to report a shortage of teaching staff than in 2018, while they were less likely to report a shortage of educational material than in 2018.

9. Establish schools as a hubs for social interaction

In systems where peer-to-peer tutoring became more prevalent between 2018 and 2022, students’ sense of belonging at school strengthened during the period.

10. Combine school autonomy and quality assurance mechanisms

The greater the autonomy granted to schools, the higher the average mathematics performance, but this was more likely when education authorities and schools had certain quality assurance mechanisms in place.

At Crania we are all about reaching international standards. Our Mathematics curriculum is designed based on intensive research on curricula from around the world. We make sure your child always reaches their potential.

¹ https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/sites/53f23881-en/1/3/3/index.html?itemId=/content/publication/53f23881-en&csp=de697f9ada06fe758fbc0d6d8d2c70fa&itemIGO=oecd&itemContentType=book#chapter-d1e2052-92e1015b90

² https://www.oecd.org/publication/pisa-2022-results/