SINGAPORE has retained its top position in a worldwide study of young students' performances in science, but fallen to second and third position for Primary 4 and Secondary 2 respectively in mathematics.
The results of the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study, which involved more than 400,000 Grade 4 and 8 students - aged 10 and 14 respectively - across 59 global education systems, were released yesterday.
In the study's last round in 2003, Singapore students took the leading positions for maths and science in both age groups.
However, they could not retain the position for maths this year, losing out to Hong Kong for Grade 4 maths and to South Korea and Taiwan for Grade 8 maths.
Despite this, the numbers were very close for the top-ranking countries. Singapore scored 593 for Grade 8 maths while Taiwan scored 598 and South Korea, 597.
Singapore's performance did not change greatly from previous studies. In the last study, its score for Grade 4 maths was 594 points, whereas its score this year was 599 points.
The students scored 605 points for Grade 8 maths in the previous study. Other countries experienced similar fluctuations.
The Ministry of Education indicated that Singapore students have continued to perform well in the global study. Despite the drop in the maths ranking, its spokesman said the results indicated no significant difference between the scores of the top-ranking countries because of the degree of uncertainty in the statistics.
Singapore has been in the top three positions - with the exception of Primary 4 science in 1995, when it ranked seventh - since the global study began.
The testing took place late last year with 6,500 Primary 4 pupils and 6,000 Secondary 2 students from all primary and secondary schools involved in the study.
The students were assessed on their knowledge, application and reasoning in maths and science via a range of questions, in tests that took up to two hours.
The study, which began in 1995, is conducted by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement every four years, in a bid to benchmark students across different countries.
Based in the Netherlands, the association is an independent international cooperative of research institutions and government agencies that conduct large-scale studies on education.
The study showed that students in Asian countries were leading the pack, ahead of those in England, Sweden and the United States.
Yemen was ranked last for its fourth graders in both subjects while Morocco was at the bottom for its eighth graders' maths and science results.
The studies further revealed that students who spoke the same language at home and in school tended to do better. Those with access to computers and books at home also excelled.
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