Pupils across the UAE will participate for the first time in international examinations to assess the quality of the education they are getting. Fifteen-year-olds across the country will be tested in maths, science and literacy as part of a scheme created nearly a decade ago by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to measure where pupils nearing the end of their secondary education stand compared with their peers around the world.
The standardised tests, known as the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), are administered every three years by the OECD. The main objective is to provide governments with reliable data to assess the relative success of their education systems. Forty-three countries took part in the first round of the tests in 2000. Sixty-two countries and states, including Dubai, will participate this year in the fourth cycle of testing. Another seven countries, including the UAE, will take part next year in a continuation of the 2009 testing cycle, after trials this year to work out any problems in the system.
Dubai has been ahead of the curve on international testing. The Knowledge and Human Development Authority, the government agency that oversees Dubai schools, initiated trial PISA testing last year and pupils will sit the actual examinations next month. This follows Dubai's participation in the last round of the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), which provided the UAE with its first data on how pupils aged 10 to 14 are performing in maths and science.
The OECD will publish a report next year on the results of the 2009 PISA tests. Another report will be published in 2011 that will include data from the second round of 2009 testing, including results for the entire UAE. "I think it is very positive that the UAE is getting involved in international tests," said Dr Clifton Chadwick, a senior lecturer in the faculty of education at the British University in Dubai.
"Whether you like it or not we're in a globalised world, so the international comparisons do have meaning." klewis@thenational.ae
