If only the Philippines would make a commitment to education like many other Asian countries have. Asian students still ace world rankings- Nikkei Asian Review
Right... good thing North Korea didn't take those tests. They would have embarrassed everyone. Their students would have scored higher than the scale system actually reaches. Why does this thing compare a city, Shanghai, with nations such as Canada? How can a nation with an emerging economy and a per capita GDP at around the level of Thailand do so well? I'm sure there are great schools in Shanghai, but what schools do their poorest attend? I'm sure they have their own schools which have much the same problems as schools in the Philippines. Little money, might not even be able to afford books, parents poor to the point where they may go hungry regularly (or not being able to eat an adequate lunch) and at times can't send their kids to school. Were these students included in the tests? How much control does China have over which test scores are handed over? If they are comparing Shanghai vs Canada, then that seems to suggest they have a lot of control. Is this test then some sort of national priority, such as doing well in the Olympics? Congrats to Shanghai and the intelligent students there. The world could sure use more people to reach their full potential as problem solvers. I'm just skeptical of these results.
