Singapore students are outperforming the rest of the world in both mathematics and science, according to the latest analysis from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) tested around 540,000 15-year-old students in 72 countries and economies on science, reading, maths and collaborative problem-solving.
In maths, the top-performing countries were Asian with Singapore, Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, Japan, China and South Korea leading the way followed by Switzerland, Estonia and Canada.
In science, the top ten was: Singapore, Japan, Estonia, Taiwan, Finland, Macao, Canada, Vietnam, Hong Kong and China.
Australia placed 14th in science and 25th in maths. While both results were above the OECD average, they represented a steady decline over recent years with Australian science students now seven months behind where they were in 2006, and Australian maths students a year behind where they were in 2003.
Minister for Education and Training Simon Birmingham said the report goes further than last week’s Trends in Maths and Science report, this year’s NAPLAN results and the OECD Education at a Glance report in terms of not just showing a plateauing of results in Australia but a clear decline from year to year in Australia’s education performance.
"Given the wealth of our nation and scale of our investment, we should expect to be a clear education leader, not risk becoming a laggard. We must leave the politicking at the door and have a genuine conversation that is based on evidence about what we do from here,” he said.
“It is unacceptable to see Australia declining in our maths, reading and science performance at a time when growing competition makes high educational outcomes ever more critical to the job prospects and economic prospects of our nation."
OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría said the report reveals the policies in place that successful countries share: high and universal expectations for all students; a strong focus on great teaching; resources targeted at struggling students and schools; and a commitment to coherent, long-term strategies.
“A decade of scientific breakthroughs has failed to translate into breakthroughs in science performance in schools,” said Gurría.
“Every country has room for improvement, even the top performers. With high levels of youth unemployment, rising inequality, a significant gender gap, and an urgent need to boost inclusive growth in many countries, more must be done to ensure every child has the best education possible.”
Minister Birmingham said the Australian Government’s Quality Schools, Quality Outcomes reforms outlined in May include more than a dozen initiatives they believe will help Australian young people get more out of their schooling.
“Many of the Turnbull Government’s quality reforms are designed to directly tackle Australia’s falling mathematics, reading and science skills, including a ‘back to basics’ focus on more teachers specialising in literacy and numeracy and qualified to teach science, technology, engineering or maths subjects, ensuring aspiring university students complete a maths or science subject to attain an ATAR," he said.