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The competence of Finnish 15-year-olds in natural sciences, mathematics and reading skills is at the top of the international league table.
The results of the PISA 2006 survey, which were published at the end of 2007, show that Finnish pupils are the best of the OECD countries in natural sciences and mathematics and second-best in reading skills.
The Finnish result is markedly better than that of any other country that took part in the survey, and the number of points was the highest ever achieved in a survey.
All schools good
Pupils’ competence is of a high standard in all the sub-areas of natural sciences. Finns are best at controlling the use of natural science evidence.
Equality is emphasized in the competence. The proportion of weak pupils is small in Finland compared with other OECD countries. The differences between schools are also the smallest of the participating countries.
In Finland the pupils appreciate natural sciences because the advances in a natural science and technology improve people’s living conditions and help in understanding the world. Finns have a more positive attitude than average to studying natural sciences.
Fluency in reading
Finland has also stayed at the top in pupils’ reading skills. It has been at almost the same level since 2000 in the Pisa surveys.
The difference in reading skills between girls and boys is still high: girls are better at reading than boys. The difference between the sexes is the second-highest in the OECD countries.
The competence in mathematics in Finland is also the best in the world. In this category boys are better than girls. Both sexes improved their level of performance since the previous survey.
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What is PISA?
PISA (Progamme for International Student Assessment) identifies the competence of 15-year-olds in reading skills, mathematics and natural sciences at three-yearly intervals.
The first three PISA surveys each focused on a particular subject: reading (in 2000), mathematics (in 2003) and (natural sciences) in 2006.
In Finland 144 Finnish-speaking schools and 11 Swedish-speaking schools were chosen for the PISA 2006 survey. The sample size was almost 5,300 students, 90 per cent of whom did the tests.
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