Japan 2nd most effective education system

[Taro Toporific]

Ok, ok, I will say something 'nice' about Japan for a change...

Japan second most effective education system: UN

..."South Korea leads the rankings ahead of Japan"

..."UNICEF said it based its conclusions on combining results of tests conducted by the Program for International Student Assessment, or PISA, and the Trends in International Math and Science Study, or TIMSS."

[The canaqu]

Obviously they weren't testing for effectiveness in foreign language education ......
And seriously, what do they mean by "most effective"? I can pass a test in math without opening a book, but that doesn't make me any less of an idiot when I'm out living my life.

[Andocrates]

I admit to being stunned by this. Japan is #2 and America is 18 out of 24?

[Steve Bildermann]

Consider the source. The United Nations.

Having seen this body at work up close and personal I dismiss any product of the UN as the product of an out of touch, grossly over paid bureaucracy that has little contact with 'real world' problems. Any report they produce is immediately suspect.

United Nations (Reuters) - The United Nations is drowning in thousands of useless reports and meetings, overlapping committees and programs that have long outlived their usefulness, Secretary-General Kofi Annan complained on Monday.

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/020923/5/p4lh.html

[kurohinge1]

Smart Cookies

... Finnish pupils are the smartest in the world, according to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development's PISA survey, conducted for the second time last year.

The survey measures the knowledge of 250,000 of the world's pupils in four areas: mathematics, science, reading comprehension and problem solving.

The results showed the Finns in first place followed by the South Koreans, Hong Kong Chinese and the Japanese in fourth...

... Girls are generally better students than boys. But the gap has narrowed somewhat in maths, the OECD found, while in reading comprehension girls are still solidly ahead...

[Charles]

Obviously they weren't testing for effectiveness in foreign language education ......

You're not using Japanese standards. Oxford linguist Yamada Haru says that Japan is 98% monolingual despite 6 years of mandatory English education, but that the education system meets its goals perfectly. It is intended to enhance the country's sense of unity by proving a nihonjinron, that Japanese identity is based on language, that Japanese speak ONLY Japanese.

[Taro Toporific]

Smart Cookies

Japanese students show marked declines in reading, mathematics
TOKYO, Dec. 7, Kyodo- The reading and mathematical skills of Japanese high school students have markedly declined in the past three years, according to an international student assessment test conducted by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development that was released Tuesday...
Japanese students registered the largest drop in scores for reading from the previous Program for International Student Assessment test.,,,,
.... Japanese students scored 498, down 24 points, dropping to the same level as the OECD average.
In addition, there were six questions in reading in which the rate of blank answers rose by 5 points from the previous test.
About 7.4 percent of Japanese students were ranked under Level 1, which is the lowest category. The percentage exceeded the OECD average of 6.7 percent.

[Mulboyne]

I couldn't find Britain in the list. Then I noticed this from the FT article

The UK was not included as not enough data from schools and students in England were supplied, a source of embarrassment in London.

Finland, Japan, Hong Kong, Korea, Canada and the Netherlands were held up as models. Mexico and Turkey fared worst among the OECD's 30 members. The survey by the Paris-based organisation also found striking differences in how countries handled the diverse students' social and economic backgrounds. Australia, Canada, Finland, Iceland and Japan were examples of countries where a student's social background had only a "moderate impact" on performance.

[tatsujin]

In that case, I don't even want to know how Ireland ranked...

Based on personal experience, any Koreans I have ever met tend to be ridiculously well qualified, Taiwanese also...

[Samurai_Jerk]

In that case, I don't even want to know how Ireland ranked...

Based on personal experience, any Koreans I have ever met tend to be ridiculously well qualified, Taiwanese also...

Ask them to do anything creative.