Hong Kong students score behind first-place Singapore in global study on creative thinking
- But Hong Kong ranks first in education equity, according to test by Programme for International Student Assessment, or Pisa
Hong Kong students scored just below average and markedly behind first-place Singapore in a global study on creative thinking, a result one education expert said should serve as a “wake-up call”.
In its first assessment of creative thinking, the Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) found that 15-year-old Hong Kong pupils fell below the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) average, despite routinely scoring above average in the core subjects of reading and maths.
But Hong Kong ranked first overall among higher-performing jurisdictions in education equity, measured as the percentage difference in performance of students due to socioeconomic backgrounds.
The scores from the 2022 assessment were revealed on Tuesday. Results for maths, reading, and science were announced last December.
Professor Hau Kit-tai, national project manager of Hong Kong Pisa 2022, said the overall results showed the need for a change in “attitudes” towards creativity in the classroom.
“This is a wake-up call,” Hau said. “It tells us our students are really not good at … thinking outside the box.”
