Dubai – June 28, 2024: Dubai’s private schools continue to shine in international rankings, placing second in financial literacy and sixth in creative thinking, according to the first-of-its-kind study conducted as part of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2022 by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
Held every three years, PISA evaluates 15-year-old students’ abilities to apply real-life skills in reading, mathematics, and science to practical situations. The assessment also added financial literacy and creative thinking skills in 2022.
Dubai private schools ranked second out of 20 participating cities and countries for financial literacy, scoring 522 points, compared to the OECD global average of 498 points.
Forty-seven per cent of 4,478 participating students from Dubai said they were taught to manage their money as part of the school curriculum, while 53% said they were taught to manage their money through activities outside of school.
Eighty-two per cent of students said they know how to manage their money, and 79% said they had savings goals for things they want to buy or do. Over a quarter (27%) of participating students said they have a bank account, while nearly a third (32%) reported having a credit or debit card.
Dubai private schools also ranked sixth out of 64 participating cities and countries for creative thinking, scoring 36 points compared to the OECD average of 33 points, with female students outperforming male students by four points.
Eighty-four per cent of 7,474 participating students from Dubai private schools performed at Level 3 or higher in creative thinking skills, surpassing the OECD average by 6%. Furthermore, 42% of Dubai students performed at Level 5 and 6, compared to 40% of students in Australia, Finland and New Zealand, and 45% in Canada and South Korea, versus the OECD average of 27% for Levels 4 and 5.
Commenting on the results, Her Excellency Aisha Miran, Director General of the Knowledge and Human Development Authority said: “We are immensely proud of our students and schools’ performance in these international assessments, which underscore Dubai’s reputation as a premier destination for high quality education that equips students with future skills for a rapidly changing world.
“We are grateful to all the school leaders who play an important role in motivating and inspiring teachers and students to improve their performance, to teachers who encourage students to develop their abilities and discover their potential, to parents who support and encourage their children to achieve their goals, and to students whose hard work and resilience brought about this remarkable result.”
Fatma Belrehif, CEO of the Dubai Schools Inspection Bureau added: “Students’ performance in international assessments serve as an important tool to evaluate the effectiveness of educational systems around the world. The results of the PISA 2022 study show that educational systems that excel in creative thinking also achieve high scores in mathematics, reading, and science, as illustrated by Dubai’s private schools’ performance. We are thankful to our schools, teachers, and parents for their role in preparing our students with future skills and raising the quality of education in Dubai.”
According to PISA 2022 results announced in December 2023, Dubai private schools ranked ninth globally in mathematics with a mean score of 497, exceeding the OECD average by 25 points. Dubai schools also ranked 13th globally in reading with a mean score of 498, and 14th in science, with a mean score of 503 points.
More information and key data about Dubai schools’ performance on the PISA 2022 creative thinking and financial literacy study is available
here.