Jordanian students excel in int'l academic assessment; premier praises progress

AMMAN — Deputising for HRH Prince Hassan, chairman of the Higher Council for Science and Technology, Prime Minister Omar Razzaz on Thursday attended a ceremony to announce the results of the 2018 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) report. 

Razzaz said that real partnership between the Education Ministry and the National Centre for Human Resources Development (NCHRD) has contributed to achieving good results in the 2018 report, after registering modest results in 2015's version, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. 

The report, conducted by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), showed an increase in the average marks of Jordanian students in science and mathematics by 20 marks each, and by 11 marks in reading, when compared to the 2015 report.

Razzaz noted that, when excluding OECD European countries, Jordan would be the second in the world in terms of improvement in this international study, expressing hopes to achieve the average of these European countries. 

The premier said that high marks on such international tests require moving from principles based on memorisation to methods focusing on comprehension and analysis when dealing with information, in addition to exchanging textbooks focusing on only theoretical sciences with scientific, applied lessons. 

Education Minister Taiseer Nuaimi said that the PISA results prompt the ministry to start a comprehensive plan that includes four key aspects, the first with a focus on curricula by developing new training programmes.

The second aspect, according to Nuaimi, will reconsider curricula as part of a national framework that analyses students' mistakes in mathematics, science and reading. 

The third aspect will focus on conducting research in cooperation with the NCHRD and Jordanian universities, while the fourth is related to sustaining communication with media sources to convey the ministry's message and goals accurately, he added. 

NCHRD President Abdullah Ababneh said that the assessment, which evaluates the performance of 15-year-olds, is conducted every three years in the fields of science, mathematics and reading, and is conducted in Jordan in cooperation with the centre.

The Kingdom's ranking in the report, which assessed 79 countries, improved by 18 points in science, seven in mathematics and 10 in reading, he said.

Jordan topped the list of the six countries that improved in the field of science, and ranked third among the 13 countries that saw an improvement in mathematics, while it needed only one mark to be included in the list of the top four countries registering a "significant development" in reading.

The first PISA report was launched in 2000 and Jordan began participating in the assessment in 2006.