(Good News from Finland) The latest PISA study, PISA 2012, released 3 December, indicates that scholastic performance among Finnish students still ranks at the top among OECD countries. Finland came in sixth place in maths, third in reading, and second in science. The nation was ranked number one in Europe in reading and science.
A total of 65 countries and regions participated in the survey. The PISA survey carried out by the OECD assesses the reading, maths and science competencies of 15-year-olds every three years. The main focus of the survey changes with every round, and this time the focus was on maths.
In the maths portion of the survey, Finland came in 12th place among all the countries that took part in the survey. That’s a clear decline from the survey of 2003, when maths was also the main theme. In that survey, Finland placed second overall.
Finland’s competence in reading and science also weakened. Among all participant countries and regions, Finland is now ranked sixth in reading and fifth in science.
Several Asian countries and regions excelled in the survey. In a comparison of mean scores, Shanghai took first place in maths, reading and science. Singapore and Hong Kong were also among the top three in each category.
www.minedu.fi
www.oecd.org/pisa
Article originally published in www.goodnewsfinland.com