That first article was from very long ago, the second is also outdated. The latest results for 2018 came out just recently. The Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) is a survey given to 15-year-old students around the world every three years, which tests the core subjects of reading, mathematics, and science. In 2018, 79 countries and economies participated, representing about 32 million 15-year-olds. This is a very large sample size, and gives early signals regarding how countries will be able to compete in a highly competitive international economy.
The latest results are very revealing. Educational reforms in Estonia are really paying off. Some countries like Spain and Hungary did the worst in some time, hopefully this will be turned around quickly. The US has poor mathematics scores, not boding well for a high tech world. And is not all that great in reading and science.
The Chinese test scores are very skewed by the fact that they only sample a few heavily industrialized wealthy areas on the coast, but they do usually score the best. Other East Asian countries also do quite well, although in my opinion too many of their students are often not well balanced, with poor eyesight, enormous stress, weak bodies and a lack of outdoor activities!
Some countries are clearly on the educational upswing. Many years ago I lived in Poland for a bit doing research on a thesis, in both Warsaw and Krakow, and I was very impressed by both the practical and theoretical intelligence I encountered. Despite the indescribable genocidal hell it has been through due to evil empires, with both Nazi and Soviet attempts to liquidate the intelligentsia, it had the 3rd highest scores in Europe for both the mathematics and science sections, and 4th highest for reading. And scored higher in all 3 than Israel, Russia, and Germany, which are often thought of as leading intellectual powers. Its economy is on the steady rise, no accident. Where did your country stand? Click on the png below once you open it and it will enlarge, showing all 3 test score results for 2018 for all the countries:
http://www.oecd.org/pisa/PISA-results_ENGLISH.png
The latest results are very revealing. Educational reforms in Estonia are really paying off. Some countries like Spain and Hungary did the worst in some time, hopefully this will be turned around quickly. The US has poor mathematics scores, not boding well for a high tech world. And is not all that great in reading and science.
The Chinese test scores are very skewed by the fact that they only sample a few heavily industrialized wealthy areas on the coast, but they do usually score the best. Other East Asian countries also do quite well, although in my opinion too many of their students are often not well balanced, with poor eyesight, enormous stress, weak bodies and a lack of outdoor activities!
Some countries are clearly on the educational upswing. Many years ago I lived in Poland for a bit doing research on a thesis, in both Warsaw and Krakow, and I was very impressed by both the practical and theoretical intelligence I encountered. Despite the indescribable genocidal hell it has been through due to evil empires, with both Nazi and Soviet attempts to liquidate the intelligentsia, it had the 3rd highest scores in Europe for both the mathematics and science sections, and 4th highest for reading. And scored higher in all 3 than Israel, Russia, and Germany, which are often thought of as leading intellectual powers. Its economy is on the steady rise, no accident. Where did your country stand? Click on the png below once you open it and it will enlarge, showing all 3 test score results for 2018 for all the countries:
http://www.oecd.org/pisa/PISA-results_ENGLISH.png