In the biggest international education ranking to date, Poland placed fifth in Europe and eleventh in the world, ahead of Britain and the United States! Great job Poland!!!
Warsaw University main entrance
The international study of education systems (międzynarodowe badanie systemów edukacji), authored by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (Organizacja Współpracy Gospodarczej i Rozwoju) (OECD), ranked 15 year-olds Asian students as the best performers. Singapore came first in the OECD ranking, followed by Hong Kong, South Korea, Japan and Taiwan. Next came Finland, Estonia, Switzerland and the Netherlands and just behind them were Canada and Poland. In total, students from 76 countries were assessed for the OECD study.
The results of the study were presented officially during the 2015 World Education Forum (Światowe Forum Edukacji) organised by UNESCO, which took part between May 19-22 in South Korea. The ranking took into consideration the test results of 15 year-olds within the subjects of mathematics and science, with an emphasis on displaying analytical skills and the ability to solve problems as well as argue and interpret accordingly. The questions were put together for the OECD by Eric Hansushek of Stanford University and Ludger Woessmann of Munich University.
The latest ranking is different to those in recent years in that it has a bigger focus on science as well as a higher number of criteria assessing international education systems. These include the results of tests such as the Programme for International Student Assessment, Program Międzynarodowej Oceny Studentów (PISA) – long-regarded as the benchmark OECD test – as well as the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMMS), prepared by academics in the United States. It also includes the Tercer Estudio Regional Comparativo y Explicativo (TERCE), applied in the South America.
Poland’s high ranking in the OECD study does not come as a surprise. In recent years, Poland has in impressive style climbed to the top of the PISA classification, which evaluates the knowledge of 15 year-olds within the fields of mathematics and science.
The latest OECD ranking is also to a large extent based on the PISA results, within which Polish students claimed joint first place in the European Union, alongside the Netherlands, Estonia and Finland. The top spots overall were taken by Asian countries.
The very impressive performance by Polish students within education rankings in recent years has in large part been a result of comprehensive changes within Poland’s education system – changes that have allowed it to break free from its Communist mould.
You can find some more information about Polish schools here: The Polish School System, Polish school, Przedszkole i zerówka – Polish kindergarten and “class zero”, How school has changed…
Do następnego razu… (Till next time…)
Comments:
Catherine:
Hello! I studied in Jagiellonian University, the studing process was on English, but I want learn Polish. I searched languages courses and found one – GordeSchool! Oh, it was great – a good teachers, new friends, and even now when I’ve problems i ask them 🙂
I took evening group study polish (cos i study in univer !) – and now – mowię po polsku 🙂
If you want more info – search there http://gordeschool.com/groups
Good luck!
Anna Warner:
I have to confirm Poland has an excellent education system. I’ve graduated from University of Warsaw and I compare this education institution as better than UCLA (University of California Los Angeles) and USC (University of Southern California) in California. Also I graduated from Liceum no 48 in Warsaw (imenia Joseph Dembowski) and I have to recognize my teachers who taught me there. Professor Maria Kanska, Professor Bombalina to name a few. Excellent education we received in Poland allows us to do well anywhere in the world. Thank you for the job well done, Polish Educational system.
Jim:
Poland’s private (non-public) education system is also a boon to education in Poland. Private education is growing here and increasing parents’ choices, too. For example, a Canadian website that promotes private schools has just launched a special portal on Polish private schools. See http://www.ourkids.net/pl/