Macao students are (almost) the world’s best at maths
Local secondary school students performed exceptionally well in the OECD’s triennial ranking of academic performance – coming second in maths and third in science.
Macao’s students are the second best at maths in the world – and the third best at science, according to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
The impressive achievement was revealed in the OECD’s latest Programme of International Student Assessment (PISA) results, which relate to 2022.
Every three years, PISA takes a random selection of 15-year-olds from 81 territories and tests their academic chops in three key subjects: maths, reading and science.
Macao’s 2022 cohort was ranked seventh in reading – making for top ten scores in all three subjects. This status was shared with Singapore (which came first across the board), Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, Estonia and Canada.
[See more: The Finnish line: New approaches to education at Macao’s Generations International School]
At a press conference yesterday, Professor Cheung Kwok Cheung of the University of Macau’s Education Faculty said the PISA results showed that Macao’s education system was highly inclusive – a fact acknowledged by the OECD, the Macau Daily Post reported.
He also said that Macao was one of the few participants to improve its academic performance during the Covid-19 period.
On a less positive note, the OECD noted that many Macao students experienced fear of failure, and had relatively limited access to extra-curricular activities like sports.
In response, the Education and Youth Development Bureau (DSEDJ) has said it would pay more attention to students’ mental and physical well-being.
