Students do well in 3 Pisa domains
IMPROVEMENT: 66.4 per cent reach baseline for scientific literacy
MORE than 60 per cent of students are able to apply their knowledge and skills in real-life situations based on the 2015 Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) results.
Education deputy director-general Datuk Dr Amin Senin said yesterday the 2015 Pisa results showed that 66.4 per cent of students in Malaysia reached the baseline for scientific literacy.
“A total of 62.8 per cent students reached the baseline for reading literacy, while for mathematics literacy, 62.5 per cent students reached the baseline,” he said.
Pisa, set up by the Paris-based Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), examines the performance of 15-yearold students in problem-solving, mathematics, science and reading.
Some 9,660 students from 230 secondary schools across Malaysia were randomly chosen for the 2015 Pisa.
Amin said Malaysia scored higher in all three domains compared with the previous Pisa cycle in 2012.
“For the scientific literacy domain, Malaysia scored 443, an increase of 23 points compared with 2012; reading literacy received a score of 431 (up by 33 points) and mathematics literacy, 421 (an increase of 25 points),” he added.
Amin attributed the improvement of all three domains to the HigherOrder Thinking Skills (HOTS) initiative, which he said must be adopted by all across the board.
He also said efforts to improve the education curriculum and resources were among other reasons for the better Pisa performance.
Amin said the students showed a strong interest in science, based on a survey conducted during Pisa.
“More than 80 per cent of the students said they had fun learning about science, gaining knowledge about the subject, and were interested in learning it. They said they liked to read about science and do science-related assignments.
“This is contrary to ongoing assumptions that Malaysian students are not keen on the field,” he said.
However, he said, 67 per cent of the students chose careers that were not related to science.
with the Bernama pic
Only 13.2 per cent were keen to work in professional science and engineering; 14 per cent in the health profession; 1.3 per cent in ICT; and, 0.6 per cent as science-related technicians and in semi-professional careers.
“This is the first survey showing that Malaysian students have a high interest in science, but are not interested in working in the science field.”