Problem: UAE Students Bottom of Class - Rankings
The UAE has been placed almost bottom of the class in puzzle solving tests designed to reveal how well students will be able to compete in tomorrow's work place.
The latest findings of the Program for International Assessment (PISA) were released today (01/04/14), and are based on a study carried out in 2012. The analysis compares 85,000 pupils in 44 countries and reveals that UAE school pupils are seriously weak when it comes to problem solving.
The UAE lies 5th from bottom, in 39th place, with an average score of 411, a long way short of the average score of 500.
The OECD, authors of the PISA test, links problem solving skills to future employability: “Fifteen-year-olds who today lack these skills face a high risk of economic disadvantage as adults,” the report reads.
“They will compete for jobs that are becoming rare and, if they are unable to adapt to new circumstances and learn in unfamiliar contexts, they may find it particularly difficult to move to better jobs as economic and technological conditions evolve.”
The report divides students up into low achievers and top performers.
Only 2.5% of UAE students are described as top performers, as opposed to 29.3% in Singapore, or 14.3% in England. Conversely, an almost frightening 54% of UAE students are said to be low achievers, compared to 8% in Singapore, or 16% in England.
Students who fall below average are, according to the report, at best, only able to solve very simple problems that do not require thinking ahead and that are cast in familiar settings, such as choosing the cheapest models of furniture from a catalogue."
East Asia dominates the top of the table - just it had in maths, science and reading - taking up all of the first seven places.
Singapore finished top, with 562 points, followed by South Korea; Japan; Macao, Hong Kong; Shanghai, China; and Taiwan. In Europe, Finland and England were the top two countries, ranking 10th and 11th respectively. Germany came in 17th, while the U.S., with a score only just above average, came 18th (508 points).
The problems in the PISA test were designed to be similar to those faced by many workers in every-day situations, such as using an unfamiliar mobile phone or a ticket-vending machine.
The report says one in 10 workers faces such hurdles every day, but the skills become even more important in the sectors that drive developed economies - such as highly skilled managerial and technical occupations.
The pupils were also asked to consider situations involving a number of alternatives and constraints to make a decision, for example choosing the right painkiller given sufficient details about the patient, their complaints and the available painkillers.
Students were also asked to solve scheduling problems for projects such as building a house or generating a flight schedule for an airline.
For more on the PISA problem solving tests, go here.
