Chinese parents and education experts have shrugged off a report from an international organization saying Shanghai students the best education in the world:
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) “Pisa” report, released every three years, studied 470,000 15-year-old pupils in 65 countries around the more developed parts of the world. South Korea and Finland topped the country rankings in the survey but, taken separately from China, the huge city of Shanghai — taking part in the survey for the first time — came top in all three of the disciplines.
“More than one-quarter of Shanghai’s 15-year-olds demonstrated advanced mathematical thinking skills to solve complex problems, compared to an OECD average of just three percent,” the OECD said.Other Asian countries and regions also scored particularly well, and OECD education expert Eric Charbonnier said the continent’s success was a result of educational values that favour equality as well as quality. “In Shanghai, a city of 20 million, they followed policies to fight against social inequality, to target the schools that were in most difficulty and send them the best performing heads and most experienced teachers,” he said.
