Fed: Aussie students among the best, but boys are a worry

AAP General News (Australia)
12-04-2001
Fed: Aussie students among the best, but boys are a worry

An international study says Australia's 15-year-olds are among the best in the world
when it comes to reading, maths and science skills.

However the OECD-sponsored survey of wealthy nations also shows that boys lag behind
girls in reading skills.

And it says social class makes a big difference to the educational success of Australians.

The first major study of its kind, the 2000 Program for International Student Assessment
tested how well 265,000 15-year-old students in 31 countries applied their knowledge and
skills to real life situations.

Australia's performance was well above the average among the Organisation of Economic
Cooperation and Development, which groups most of the world's rich nations.





Finnish students were the best readers, scoring higher than Australia, Canada, Japan,
Korea, New Zealand, the UK and the US.

In maths, Japanese students beat those from Australia, Canada, Finland, Korea, New
Zealand, Switzerland and the UK.

In science, Japanese and Korean students led Australia, Canada, Finland, Ireland, New
Zealand and the UK.

PISA's Australian national project manager, JAN LOKAN, says over 6,000 Australian students
from all states and territories took part in the survey.

All states, except the Northern Territory, scored highly for reading. The ACT and Western
Australia scored high for both maths and science, and South Australia did well in science.

Despite Australia's egalitarian ethos, it had one of the strongest relationships between
reading ability and social background and was classed, along with the UK, as one of the
least equitable countries on this score.

A telling statistic came from the ACT where more than 60 per cent of the students'
parents were university educated.

In reading, 25 per cent of ACT students had reached the highest level - the best score
for any Australian state.

A total of 500 indigenous students were surveyed and while average results were lower,
40 per cent scored level three or above - indicating skills adequate for adult life.

However the survey found indigenous students would continue to need extra support.

In every country including Australia, girls outscored boys in reading.

Boys from poorer backgrounds tended to score worse at reading than girls and many boys
failed questions related to narrative texts.

Forty per cent of boys and 25 per cent of girls did not read for enjoyment; 35 per
cent of boys thought reading a waste of time and only 23 per cent of boys read fiction
once a week compared to 41 per cent of girls.

Federal Education minister BRENDAN NELSON says the results confirmed Australia's education
system was among the best in the world but boys' literacy was a major problem.

Dr NELSON says boys are feeling disengaged, disillusioned and demoralised in middle
school and in many cases are disengaging from the educational system.

The study will be repeated every three years and more countries will be added in subsequent
surveys.





(EDS: EMBARGOED UNTIL 2100 AEDT TODAY TUESDAY, DEC 4)

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KEYWORD: EDUCATION (MELBOURNE)

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