Asian countries claimed the top five spots in a global math-and-science-education ranking administered by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) while the U.S. placed 28th, below much poorer countries such as the Czech Republic and Vietnam.
Singapore ranked best in the world, with Hong Kong placing second and South Korea, Japan and Taiwan rounding out top five, reports the BBC.
At sixth, Finland is the first non-Asian country to appear in the rankings; Ghana came in last place.
“The idea is to give more countries, rich and poor, access to comparing themselves against the world’s education leaders, to discover their relative strengths and weaknesses, and to see what the long-term economic gains from improved quality in schooling could be for them,” said OECD education director Andreas Schleicher.
The new rankings are different the more well-known PISA scores, which traditionally focuses on affluent nations. The latest version, based on tests taken in different regions worldwide, includes 76 countries of varying economic status.
“This is the first time we have a truly global scale of the quality of education,” said Schleicher.
Below is the top 10 as reported by the BBC.
1. Singapore
2. Hong Kong
3. South Korea
4. Japan
4. Taiwan
6. Finland
7. Estonia
8. Switzerland
9. Netherlands
10. Canada
[BBC]
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