Finnish children take top spot in OECD science test

Finnish children take top spot in OECD science test
Students listen to their teacher during a Maths lesson at the Hakunila Middle School in Vantaa, north of Helsinki December 3, 2007. (Agnieszka Flak/Reuters)PARIS (Reuters) - Finnish 15-year-olds had the best scienceknowledge last year according to an OECD education reportreleased on Tuesday, but South Korea took the top spot inreading while Taipei students were the smartest at maths.
The 2006 PISA (Programme for International StudentAssessment) surveyed 400,000 15-year-old students in 57countries, testing their science knowledge on subjects such asclimate change, genetically modified crops and the importanceof physical exercise.
The report, which is carried out every three years, alsotested maths and reading but put a special focus this time onscience because of its growing importance intechnologically-based economies.
Finland ranked top in the science survey with a mean scoreof 563, beating Hong Kong into second place with 542 and Canadainto third with a score of 534.
The United States, Spain and Italy were among 32 countriesthat were classed as statistically below the Organisation forEconomic Cooperate and Development (OECD) average.
"In today's technology-based societies, understandingfundamental scientific concepts and theories and the ability tostructure and solve scientific problems are more important thanever," the report said.
It urged countries to strengthen their science staff toencourage student enthusiasm and to make sure pupils who willnot end up working in science to continue some scientificstudy.
The report said only a minority of students wanted to workin science. It also found that students from wealthierbackgrounds were more likely to think science was important.
EXTRA QUESTIONS
The students mostly carried out pencil and paper tasks inthe tests but in three countries some students were given extraquestions on a computer.
South Korean teenagers were the world leaders at readingwith a mean score of 556, ahead of Finland with 547 in secondplace and Hong Kong in third place with 536.
"In Korea, performance on the reading literacy scale isabove that of any other OECD country, even higher than inFinland, which was the top-performer in reading in PISA 2000and PISA 2003," the report said.
It said Korea has improved its average performance mainlyby significantly raising performance among more able studentswhile performance at the lower end of the scale was largelyunchanged.
Greece, Portugal, Spain, Italy and Norway were among thosecountries significantly below the OECD average in reading.
In mathematics, Taipei came first with a mean score of 549,with Finland in second with 548 and Hong Kong a joint thirdwith Korea on 547. The United States, Italy, Spain and Portugalwere below the OECD average on the mathematics scale.
"The wide disparities in student performance in mathematicswithin most countries ... suggest that excellence throughoutsystems still remains a remote goal and that countries need toserve a wide range of student abilities," the report said.
(Editing by Peter Millership)