Candidates take the English exam at Cognitio College (Kowloon) as the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination kicks off on April 22, 2022. (PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

HONG KONG – Students from China’s Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions "outperformed" their peers from over 70 other economies in math and science, the OECD said on Tuesday in its latest survey of global learning standards.

The Paris-based Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development said Hong Kong and Macao, along with China’s Taiwan region, Singapore, South Korea, and Japan “outperformed all other” economies in mathematics and science in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2022, the OECD's usually triennial tests of 15-year-olds reading, maths and science skills.

Nearly 700,000 youths took the two-hour test last year in the OECD's 38 mostly developed economy members and 44-non members for the latest study, closely watched by policymakers as the largest international comparison of education performance

Hong Kong students’ mean score in math was 540, higher than the OECD average of 472 and helping the SAR maintain its fourth place in the subject globally. 

In science, they scored 520, also higher than the OECD average of 485 and which boosted Hong Kong’s ranking in the subject from 9th to 7th place. Hong Kong students obtained a score of 500 in reading, also above the OECD average of 476.

"In terms of education equity, Hong Kong ranked second among countries or economies with high academic achievements, indicating that the socio-economic status of Hong Kong students has minimal bearing on their performance,” said a spokesman from the HKSAR's Education Bureau.  

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“Generally speaking, during the period of class suspension amid the pandemic, schools in Hong Kong provided ample support to students. Students from different socio-economic backgrounds performed equally well,” he added.

The spokesman said the PISA 2022 results reaffirmed the merits of the Hong Kong education system, which is able to provide all students with high-quality and equal education opportunities.

 "The EDB commends students for their remarkable performance in mathematical and scientific literacy, which was attributed to their continuous learning at home during the suspension of face-to-face classes, fully achieving 'suspending classes without suspending learning',” he added.

Macao SAR students scored 552 in math, 510 in reading, and 543 in science, the OECD said, noting that even the most socio-economically disadvantaged Macao students scored higher than the OECD average in maths.

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Nearly 700,000 youths took the two-hour test last year in the OECD's 38 mostly developed economy members and 44-non members for the latest study, closely watched by policymakers as the largest international comparison of education performance.

The OECD also said that Macao was one of four economies – the others being Colombia, Peru, and Qatar – that bucked a long-term declining trend in reading, science, and math.

“Their results have improved on average in all three subjects over the full period they have participated in (the survey),” the OECD said.

Unprecedented decline

The OECD also noted that teenagers' mathematics and reading skills are in an unprecedented decline across dozens of economies and COVID school closures are only partly to be blamed.

Compared to when the tests were last conducted in 2018, reading performance fell by 10 points on average in OECD economies, and by 15 points in mathematics, a loss equivalent to three-quarters of a year's worth of learning.

While more than half of the 82 economies surveyed saw declines, Germany, Iceland, the Netherlands, Norway and Poland saw particularly sharp drops in mathematics scores, the OECD said

While more than half of the 82 economies surveyed saw declines, Germany, Iceland, the Netherlands, Norway and Poland saw particularly sharp drops in mathematics scores, the OECD said.

On average across the OECD, one out of four 15-year-olds tested as a low performer in maths, reading and science, which means they could not use basic algorithms or interpret simple texts, the study found.

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"COVID probably played some role but I would not overrate it," OECD director of education Andreas Schleicher told a news conference.

"There are underlying structural factors and they are much more likely to be permanent features of our education systems that policymakers should really take seriously."

Economies that provided extra teacher support during COVID school closures scored better and results were generally better in places where easy teacher access for special help was high.

Poorer results tended to be associated with higher rates of mobile phone use for leisure and where schools reported teacher shortages.

The OECD said the decline was not inevitable, pointing to Singapore, where students scored the highest in maths, reading and science, with results that suggested they were on average three to five years ahead of their OECD peers.

With Reuters inputs