Education, it is understood, drives the economy forward in a sustainable manner. A country may have a plentiful workforce, but as the economy becomes more sophisticated, the question is whether existing conditions of capacity, capability and intellect can keep up with the fast pace of growth. Over time, the country must increasingly concern itself with improving, expanding and extending the quality of its education as it must face the challenges of gradual mechanization and other scientific development, requiring fewer workforce. In the end, education can become an aim in itself as workers compete for fewer but better-paying higher-ranking jobs and parents prepare their children for a more competitive future.
It is therefore not surprising that every three years, anxiety shoots up as the most recent results of the OECD’s Program for International Study Assessment (PISA) study filter through the press. The PISA study looks at how well 15-year-olds perform on a battery of mathematics, science, reading, and problem-solving tests. For the 2015 iteration, around 540,000 students from 72 countries participated in the PISA study. In Southeast Asia’s case, the results are disparate: Singapore (#1) and Vietnam (#22) lead the pack, while Malaysia (#46), Thailand (#59), and Indonesia (#65) lag behind.
That the PISA study results suggest lessons that countries can learn from each other is the main assumption of a recently published World Bank report, Growing Smarter: Learning and Equitable Development in East Asia and the Pacific, and this is the focus of our first Spotlight article this week. First published in The Bangkok Post, the article underlines the great progress that education in Asia has achieved. In more advanced Asian economies, students are more than a year and a half ahead of their peers in OECD countries in terms of learning outcomes. However, careful and competent policymaking in education can boost quality education in poorer economies.
Our second Spotlight article looks at the variety and disparity in the quality of education in Southeast Asia. This Southeast Asia Globe review features short stories, quotes, and charts to present a multifaceted take on the state of the region’s education. In particular, the review highlights how regional universities stack up in one influential global university ranking and how educational attainment is distributed in several Southeast Asian countries by gender and wealth. Also, the review briefly touches on the importance of proper and adequate nutrition in education: without it, one is not physically prepared to engage in the education process.
Education in Southeast Asia has plenty of problems. In Singapore, the pressure-cooker atmosphere in schools and emphasis on rote memorization are adversely affecting children’s social skills and overall happiness. In Indonesia, on the other end from Singapore on the PISA ranking, the education system is failing to produce 15-year-olds with basic math and reading skills to function in a modern society. Despite its many critics, the PISA study has a strong hold on education policymakers throughout the region. Perhaps drawing lessons from the best can help them come up with ideas to address problems at home.
