South Korean students rank top tier in math, science

By Kim Boram
SEOUL, Dec. 10 (Yonhap) -- South Korean junior high school students rank second
in mathematical skills and fourth in science, an education group said Wednesday,
citing an international survey.

Second-year students at Korean junior high schools, equivalent to 8th graders in
the U.S., received a score of 597 in mathematics in a 2007 test, one point behind
top-ranking Taiwanese students, according to a study compiled by the
International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA).
The ranking was determined in comparison to an average score of 500 among
students from 50 surveyed countries.
Students from Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan followed their South Korean
colleagues, while American students came in ninth with 508, the survey said.
The IEA has been conducting the quadrennial study, titled "Trends in
International Mathematics and Science Study," since 1995 on 230,000 students in
50 countries to compare the students' achievement in the two academic fields.
South Korea came in fourth in science, receiving 553 points to trail Singapore,
Taiwan and Japan, who scored 567, 561, and 554 respectively.
Compared with the last survey from 2003, South Korea improved by 8 points in math
but dropped 5 points in science. Its math ranking stayed the same, but science
fell from third.
"As the study is based on an internationally agreed curriculum, the superiority
of Korean students in mathematics and science was demonstrated in an objective
manner," said Yoo Dae-gyun, an official in charge of curriculum development at
the education ministry.
brk@yna.co.kr
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