Ghana sucks at maths and science

... second to last in world study
... 150 schools took part in study
Ghana eighth-graders are behind their peers across the globe in science and math according to an international review of school performance.

The 2003 test results released Tuesday placed Ghana as one of the worst of several countries tested for Grade 8-level mathematics and science proficiency.

Of the 45 countries ranked in the eighth-grade survey, Ghana was 44th in both mathematics and science - outperforming only South Africa.

Ghanaian eighth-graders scored 276, on average, in mathematics. This was far below the international average (466) as well as the average scores of their peers in 44 of the 45 other participating countries (see table I below).

Students in all the other African countries that took part in the survey - Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco and Botswana, outperformed Ghanaian pupils.

Singapore, Korea and Hong Kong were among the top performers.

Ghana did not fare any better in science. Ghanaian eighth-graders score 255 points - far below the international average of 473 points - and under performed their peers (see table 2 below). Ghanaian eighth-graders performed lower, on average, than their peers in all the other African countries except South Africa.

The findings were made by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement's third four-yearly international mathematics and science assessment project.

The Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study, or TIMSS, is a test of curriculum taught in all participating countries, from chemistry and physics to geometry and algebra. It is a respected benchmark of a country's performance in primary and middle grades.

Ghana did not take part in a similar study in 1999.

The Ghana leg of the study was conducted among about 5690 Grade 8 pupils in 150 schools across the country in 2003.

The new report is available at timss.bc.edu.

Table 1: Average mathematics scale scores of eighth-grade students, by country: 2003

Country Average score
Taipei 585
Malaysia 508
Latvia 508
Russian Federation 508
Slovak Republic 508
Australia 505
United States 504
Lithuania4 502
Sweden 499
Scotland 498
(Israel) 496
New Zealand 494
Slovenia 493
Italy 484
Armenia 478
Serbia4 477
Bulgaria 476
Romania 475
Norway 461
Moldova, Republic of 460
Cyprus 459
(Macedonia, Republic of) 435
Lebanon 433
Jordan 424
Iran, Islamic Republic of 411
Indonesia 411
Tunisia 410
Egypt 406
Bahrain 401
Palestinian National Authority 390
Chile 387
Morocco 387
Philippines 378
Botswana 366
Saudi Arabia 332
Ghana 276
South Africa 264

Table 2: Average science scale scores of eighth-grade students, by country: 2003

 Country  Average score
 Singapore 578
 Chinese Taipei 571


 Korea, Republic of 558


 Hong Kong SAR2,3 556


 Estonia 552


 Japan 552


 Hungary 543


 Netherlands2 536


 (United States) 527


 Australia 527
 Sweden 524


 Slovenia 520


 New Zealand 520


 Lithuania4 519


 Slovak Republic 517


 Belgium-Flemish 516


 Russian Federation 514


 Latvia 512


 Scotland2 512
 Malaysia 510


 Norway 494


 Italy 491


 (Israel) 488


 Bulgaria 479


 Jordan 475


 Moldova, Republic of 472


 Romania 470


 Serbia4 468
 Armenia 461


 Iran, Islamic Republic of 453


 (Macedonia, Republic of) 449


 Cyprus 441


 Bahrain 438


 Palestinian National Authority 435


 Egypt 421


 Indonesia4 420


 Chile 413
 Tunisia 404


 Saudi Arabia 398


 (Morocco) 396


 Lebanon 393


 Philippines 377


 Botswana 365


 Ghana 255


 South Africa 244