Singapore students top global benchmarking survey for maths, science again

SINGAPORE — Singapore students have once again proven their prowess in maths and science by topping the charts in an international benchmarking study released on Tuesday (Nov 29).

Not only are they doing well in these subjects, but compared with their global peers, Singapore pupils also have a more positive attitude towards and enjoy maths and science, proving that the Education Ministry’s (MOE) efforts to reduce content and allow students to learn in a more active way are paying off.

In the latest Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (Timss), Primary Four and Secondary Two students in Singapore outperformed their peers from 63 other countries in maths and science.

The Republic’s students have consistently done well in the study, conducted here every four years since 1995, although the last time Singapore topped all four rankings was in 2003.

MOE said the latest results also affirmed a trend that students today are better able to apply knowledge and skills, and solve non-routine maths and science problems. 

Comparing 2015’s results with 1995’s, the Primary Four pupils’ average score of their ability to understand, apply and reason went up from 590 to 618 in maths, and from 523 to 590 in science, while Secondary Two students’ score rose from 609 to 621 in maths, and from 580 to 597 in science. 

Coming in second and third at the Primary Four level are Hong Kong and South Korea in maths, with their students scoring an average of 615 and 608 respectively, and South Korea and Japan in science, with 589 and 569 respectively. All scores are adjusted to a 500-scale average. 

At the Secondary Two level, in maths, South Korea and Chinese Taipei trail behind Singapore with average scores of 606 and 599. In science, Japan and Chinese Taipei take second and third place, with scores of 571 and 569.

The latest study involved about 6,500 randomly selected Primary Four students and about 6,100 randomly selected Secondary Two students across all Singapore schools. Altogether, more than 582,000 students, 250,000 parents and 51,000 teachers were roped in for the study internationally. Syllabus changes, which saw two “massive rounds” of content reduction in 1998 and 2003, could have played a part in the improvements, said Ms Low Khah Gek, deputy director-general of education (schools). 

“The reason for content reduction is really to free up time, so that our teachers can teach differently, our students … can learn in a more active way, and be given more space to actually investigate, explore as well as talk in class,” she said.  

While the study found very small proportions of students who are “low performers” in maths or science, 

Ms Low said that number is “consistently tracked” to “see how we can enhance our learning support in order to make sure that our students really meet the baseline competencies needed for the two subjects”.

The study also revealed that students here have a positive attitude towards learning the two subjects, with 85 per cent and 88 per cent of Primary Four students saying they enjoy learning maths and science respectively — both are 1 percentage point higher than the international average.

On the other hand, 92 per cent and 91 per cent of Secondary Two students say they value the learning of maths and science respectively, compared with the international average of 87 per cent and 81 per cent.