News / Education
Zimbabwe ranked 5th in maths and science
23 Jun 2014 at 08:30hrs | Views
ZIMBABWE has been ranked among the best on the African continent in terms of quality of mathematics and science education, a World Economic Forum (WEF) report has shown.
The WEF 2014 Report on Global Information Technology Report 2014 under the skills subcategory showed that the quality of Zimbabwe's science and maths was ranked number five in Africa behind Tunisia, Cote D'Ivoire, Ghana and Morocco.
The WEF report also ranked Zimbabwe's quality of educational system as the second best in Africa after Zambia and 42nd on a global scale. Zimbabwe is ranked on 63rd position in the world out of 148 countries and is the best in Southern Africa.
In February, Zimbabwe was ranked number one in Africa with the highest literacy rate taking over from Tunisia.
Tunisia, which is number one in Africa in terms of quality of maths and science, ranks 31st on the global scale, with Morocco at 52 and Cote D'Ivoire at 60, while Ghana ranks 62nd on the global scale.
On the global scale, Singapore is ranked first, followed by Finland and Belgium. South Africa is the worst in terms of quality of maths and science education and is ranked number 148 in the world.
The WEF 2014 report, however, shows no improvement in Zimbabwe's quality ratings in relation to maths and science. In the 2012 report on quality of maths and science education, the country ranked 52nd out of 142 countries.
According to the report, about 200 million children remain illiterate after completing primary school education and globally, 743 million people aged 15 years and above will still remain illiterate in 2015, the deadline for Millennium Development Goals with two thirds of them being women.
Despite the favourable rankings for the country there is great concern over the pass rate of the two subjects particularly in rural schools.
Mathematics and science subjects are among the core subjects one must attain at Ordinary Level and are key requirements for most tertiary educational programmes.
The WEF 2014 Report on Global Information Technology Report 2014 under the skills subcategory showed that the quality of Zimbabwe's science and maths was ranked number five in Africa behind Tunisia, Cote D'Ivoire, Ghana and Morocco.
The WEF report also ranked Zimbabwe's quality of educational system as the second best in Africa after Zambia and 42nd on a global scale. Zimbabwe is ranked on 63rd position in the world out of 148 countries and is the best in Southern Africa.
In February, Zimbabwe was ranked number one in Africa with the highest literacy rate taking over from Tunisia.
Tunisia, which is number one in Africa in terms of quality of maths and science, ranks 31st on the global scale, with Morocco at 52 and Cote D'Ivoire at 60, while Ghana ranks 62nd on the global scale.
The WEF 2014 report, however, shows no improvement in Zimbabwe's quality ratings in relation to maths and science. In the 2012 report on quality of maths and science education, the country ranked 52nd out of 142 countries.
According to the report, about 200 million children remain illiterate after completing primary school education and globally, 743 million people aged 15 years and above will still remain illiterate in 2015, the deadline for Millennium Development Goals with two thirds of them being women.
Despite the favourable rankings for the country there is great concern over the pass rate of the two subjects particularly in rural schools.
Mathematics and science subjects are among the core subjects one must attain at Ordinary Level and are key requirements for most tertiary educational programmes.
Source - chronicle
