PHILIPPINE NORMAL UNIVERSITY

The National Center for Teacher Education

Mindanao
Multicultural Education Hub

Mercy Barbie Sabandal Date submitted: June 29, 2018

BMSEE IV Score: ____________________
Prof. Rose D. Arquion
P-MSCI07

FLA #2: What Makes the Top 3 Countries made it to Top?

Top 1, Singapore. Singapore has achieved the highest global

education rankings for primary and secondary school pupils in maths and
science, according to a new study. The Trends in International Mathematics
and Science Study(TIMSS), published every four years by the International
Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA), assessed the
performance of more than 600,000 children aged nine to 10 and 12 to 14 in 57
countries worldwide.

The education system of Singapore aims at excellence for its students,

offering various choices in 1year of nursery, 2 years of kindergarten, preschool,
primary, secondary, and post-secondary education. From the age of 7 onwards,
children attend primary school and this stage starting to teach basic
mathematics skills and science education. Also, the government invests heavily
in education. Programs that necessary for the so called quality education are
all well-funded. Adding to that, Singapore is one of the advances in terms of
technology because the people there are doing well in Math and Science.
Advancement of technology involves Math and Science and these are the
primary tools for it.

In addition to that, the Ministry of Education in Singapore sets very high

academic standards. Thus the students must meet this goal to much be fitted
in the society. Anyways, there is no discrimination happened in the educational
system of Singapore because private and public school are all equal in terms of
the quality of their education. They also have the same curriculum, though.
What more is that, they have very committed teachers that work incredibly for
long hours and receive professional development opportunities. Most
especially, the students are very respectful. They indeed have a good attitude
that the other students in the other countries are lack of it. Therefore, there are
fewer classroom disruptions due to unruly students.

As a result, I am not that certainly surprised why Singapore became the top
one countries that best in Math and Science. No question about the result
because they have the best high quality education not just in Math and Science
but also other subjects. Truly Singaporean people deserves it!
 Top 2, Hong Kong. In the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
(SAR) of China, several bodies contribute to the enterprise of education.
Emphasizing the importance of acquiring subject matter knowledge and
skills, the mathematics curricula at the primary and junior (lower) secondary
levels aim to help students develop general skills in and build up positive
attitudes toward mathematics. The goals of the primary mathematics
curriculum are:
Stimulate interest in the learning of mathematics;
Help students understand and acquire basic mathematical concepts
and computational skills;
Help students develop creativity and the ability to think, communicate,
and solve problems;
Help students develop number and spatial sense and the ability to
appreciate patterns and structures of number and shapes;
Enhance students’ lifelong learning abilities through basic
mathematical knowledge;
Enable students to develop mathematical conceptualization, inquiry,
reasoning, and communication skills and the ability to use
mathematics to formulate and solve problems in everyday life, as well
as in mathematical contexts;
Enable students to manipulate numbers, symbols, and other
mathematical objects
Help students develop number, symbol, and spatial sense, as well as a
sense of measurement and the capability to appreciate structures and
patterns
Help students develop positive attitudes toward mathematics and the
ability to appreciate the aesthetic nature and cultural aspects of
mathematics.

Top 3, South Korea. Students in South Korea take some form of

science for almost their entire K-12 education, with some focusing quite
heavily on science during their high school year. In Korea high school (Grade
10-12), all students take general science in 10th grade, which again covers
biology, chemistry, physics, and Earth Science.

A very interesting aspect of the Korean approach to science education is

the existence of specialized, highly gifted science high schools. Each province in
Korea has a science high school made up of students who, among other
prerequisites, are drawn from the top 5 of students in the province. These
gifted science high schools are well funded and equipped with research-grade
equipment that is not available even to students in some provincial
universities. The goal of these highly gifted science high schools is to prepare
students for careers as research scientists.

The basic objectives that have remained in nation mathematics curricula

are acquisition of mathematical knowledge and skills, enhancement of
mathematical thinking ability, and cultivation of problem-solving ability and
attitude.

References: https://www.nap.edu/read/21753/chapter/3#21

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/best-places-world-education-rankings-maths-
science-trends-a7447791.html