Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has praised the Ministry of Education (MOE) for “moving in the right direction” after Singapore students topped two recent global education surveys.
In a Facebook post on Wednesday (Dec 7) evening, Mr Lee wrote: “These latest results show improvements over the previous round of the surveys. The Ministry of Education, Singapore is moving in the right direction.
“To our students, well done and keep it up! My thanks as well to parents, teachers, principals, and MOE staff, who work hard to nurture in our children a positive attitude towards learning, and prepare them for the challenges and opportunities of tomorrow.”
Last week, Singapore’s Primary 4 pupils and Secondary 2 students were declared the world’s best in mathematics and science after topping both subjects in the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), an achievement test recognised by policymakers and educators worldwide
TIMSS, which tested more than 582,000 students from 64 education systems, also showed improvements by Singapore students on various fronts from reasoning and application abilities to progress made by weaker students.
Then on Tuesday, the Republic’s 15-year-olds aced an even more prestigious international benchmarking test, dubbed the “World Cup for Education”.
They were ranked No. 1 for mathematics, science and reading in the Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa), which measures how well students use their knowledge and skills to solve real-world problems.
Singapore’s performance has caught the attention of the world media, with the BBC publishing an article titled “Singapore – a winning combination” that examined its education system in greater detail.
Mr Lee, who shared the article in his Facebook post, said: “This BBC News article describes how we are improving our approach to education – developing students’ curiosity and thinking skills, with which they can solve real world problems.”