HK students' creativity meets global standards, but lags behind Singapore

Hong Kong students' creative thinking meets international standards, but falls behind Singapore, which topped the latest Programme for International Student Assessment.

In the creative thinking assessment of Pisa 2022, which involved 64 countries or economies, 15-year-old Hong Kong students achieved a mean score of 32, on par with the international average of 33.

The assessment, conducted every three years by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, evaluates the mathematical, scientific and reading literacy of 15-year-old students.

The creative thinking assessment tested students' performance across four domains - written expression, visual expression, social problem solving and scientific problem solving.

A total of 5,907 Hong Kong students from 163 secondary schools participated, with 1,663 taking the creative thinking assessment.

While Hong Kong students matched the global average with a score of 32, Singapore students topped the assessment with a mean score of 41, followed by South Korea and Canada, both with 38. Macau students also scored 32. At the lower end, Albania had the lowest average score of 13.

The Education Bureau said it will continue working with different stakeholders to improve Hong Kong students' ability to compete internationally.

"Hong Kong students displayed better performance in evaluating and improving ideas, as well as stronger capabilities in social problem solving. However, they have room for improvement in generating diverse and creative ideas, as well as visual expression," the bureau said.

"The results of this study once again demonstrated Hong Kong's remarkable performance in terms of education equity, ranking first among countries or economies with high academic achievements," it added.

"This indicates that family background and socio-economic status have minimal bearing on Hong Kong students' performance in creative thinking and highlights that the Hong Kong education system provides all students with high-quality and equal education opportunities."

kelly.kong@singtaonewscorp.com