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The Education Bureau (EDB) is pleased to note that Hong Kong students performed well in digital reading literacy in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2009 results announced today (June 28).
PISA is a three-year international study held by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). It aims at assessing the scientific, reading and mathematical literacy of young adults aged 15, collecting data on factors that could help to explain differences in performance, and evaluating the effectiveness of the education system in each participating country or region.
PISA 2009 is the fourth cycle of the study, which has been conducted in a three-year cycle since 2000. The Chinese University of Hong Kong was commissioned by the EDB to participate in PISA 2009 and the key findings of PISA 2009 were released in December 2010. The results of the first-ever assessment of students' digital reading literacy were announced today. A total of nearly 1 450 students aged 15 from 151 secondary schools participated in the assessment.
Among the 19 countries or regions participating in the study, Hong Kong's 15-year-old students ranked fifth in digital reading literacy - one of the best results internationally. The result is also similar to that of reading in the same study. As this is the first assessment on digital reading literacy, no comparison could be made with past results.
"The good performance of Hong Kong students in PISA once again validates that Hong Kong education is heading in the right direction. The achievements are a result of the concerted efforts of schools and teachers, as well the support of various stakeholders in taking forward education reform. However, compared to the top three performing countries or regions, Hong Kong has fewer high achievers. It is expected that improvements can be made when more assessment data and information of a similar type are available in future," a spokesman for the EDB said.
"The results also reaffirm the quality of our education system, noting that Hong Kong students' socio-economic status seems to have less effect on their performance as compared with the situation in other participating countries or regions. To tackle the problem of lacking access to computers at home, the Government has set up district cyber centres since 2008 to enable children from low-income families to gain access to the rich pool of information and knowledge in cyberspace. In the 2010-11 school year, an Internet Learning Support Programme has also been implemented to help primary and secondary students from low-income families acquire suitable and affordable computer and Internet services for online learning at home, and to provide necessary training and technical support to these students and their parents on safe and healthy use of the Internet," the spokesman added.
Ends/Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Issued at HKT 17:33
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