Singapore Students Rise To The Top In Global PISA Test For Their Intercultural Skill

Singapore’s 15-year-old students show impressive intercultural skills in PISA 2018 results and top the test’s global competency ranking. With 6,300 students from all 153 public secondary schools and 376 from 13 private schools, our young representatives managed to shine their way through with impressive results. 

The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is a study that measures how students around the world apply their educational skills in Reading, Mathematics and Science. It is held every 3 years in coordination with the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and this is the fourth time that Singapore has taken part of the test. The global test lets students put their cognitive skills to use and opens room for them to grow and develop. 

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MOE highlights Singapore students’ high GC skills

The Ministry of Education (MOE) shares how our students excel in understanding different perspectives and are able to correlate with people of other cultures. A high percentage of the students also expressed their desire for world change and helping those in poor conditions. 

About 46% of students from Singapore were evaluated to have a high level of understanding behind global issues and cultural significance. This is a high percentage among the 27 education systems and shows how almost half of our students have demonstrated great awareness in intercultural communication and have a deep understanding of different worldviews.

It was also found that an average of 63% students felt a huge responsibility for climate change and were able to express its importance as well as how greatly it affects the world. 

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PISA 2018 results reveals areas our students can improve on  

As these tests were meant to encourage students to challenge their cognitive capabilities, it was found among seven topics our students were least familiar with problems regarding “international conflicts” and “global health”. While they strived with the other topics, our students were a bit unsure with economic issues. 

MOE says that in comparison to their peers, our students also displayed less confidence in adapting their thinking and “self-perceived cognitive adaptability”. 

But students should not be discouraged because this gives them a chance to get a better grasp of topics regarding global issues and develop their cognitive skills through essential readings and activities. There are after all always opportunities to improve and adapt. 

The MOE expresses their efforts to ensure that our students continue to get the support they need to develop their cognitive skills and boost their confidence to convey their own personal views regarding global issues.

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