How BC Students Stack Up On Global Scale

By 250 News

Prince George, B.C. -  The B.C. Education Ministry is out with results from the most recent international student assessment tests...

The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) tests 15-year-olds' abilities in science, math, and reading in 65 countries, including all 10 Canadian provinces, every three years.  Education Minister Margaret McDiarmid says the 2009 results show, "British Columbia students consistently score well among Organization For Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries and our results remain relatively stable."

Generally, the 2009 results for B.C. students are similar to those from 2006, with slight decreases in math and science.  In math, nine jurisdictions were above B.C.'s range.  In science, only Finland, Hong Kong-China, and Shanghai-China had higher results.  In reading, Finland, Korea, and Shanghai-China had better results.

McDiarmid says while B.C.'s results are stable, but "more jurisdictions are improving their results and it's a reminder that while we have a good education system, we need to make improvements to remain competitive on a global scale."

The Liberal Government's goal in the run-up to the 2010 Winter Olympics last year was to make B.C. the most literate jurisdiction in the world.

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