A group of students from Madrasah Al-Arabiah Al-Islamiah (MAI) who took part in a global study were found to have global efficiency skills on par with peers from other national schools in Singapore.
The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is a worldwide study by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The assessment sees ‘global efficiency’ as the ability of students to examine significant issues, appreciate differing perspectives, to be involved in effective cross-cultural interactions and to take steps towards harmonious and sustainable development .
These factors are assessed through the students’ knowledge in reading, mathematics and science, and how these knowledge can be applied.
Heartened by the results of PISA 2018, Principal of MAI, Mr Herman Cher Ma’in said that this is encouraging news for our madrasah students.
“I believe our community should know that our madrasah students are comparable to their peers in national schools in those factors.
“Besides that, they are also on par in subjects like maths and science. This is an achievement I hope that’s able to get rid of stereotypes people may have on the capabilities of madrasah students,” said Mr Herman.
60 students from Madrasah Al-Arabiah – 59 from secondary four and one from secondary three level – were chosen at random to take part in the assessment in 2018.
All in all, a total of 6,676 students from 153 public secondary schools and 13 private schools – including MAI – took part in PISA 2018. Among these, 46 percent of students assessed in Singapore achieved two of the highest levels of global efficiency, compared to 14 percent out of 27 education systems from other participating countries.
PISA is described as one of the most comprehensive assessments in evaluating student learning at international level so far. The results of PISA 2018 was recently announced to participating schools mid 2020.
Article was translated from Malay and first published in Berita Harian on 30.10.2020.
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