BBC are calling these rankings the “biggest ever global school rankings” as they were “based on an amalgamation of international assessments, including the OECD’s Pisa tests, the TIMSS tests run by US-based academics and TERCE tests in Latin America, putting developed and developing countries on a single scale”. The analysis was based on test scores in maths and science in 76 countries and put Asian countries in the top five places and African countries at the bottom.
As far as Lebanon is concerned, we ranked 58th worldwide and 3rd in the region after the UAE (1st) and Bahrain (2nd). In terms of economic growth potential, Lebanon can achieve an 816% GDP increase if all pupils (15 year old) are enrolled in schools and that they achieve at least basic skills.
Here’s a list showing rankings in the Arab World:
United Arab Emirates 45
Bahrain 57
Lebanon 58
Jordan 61
Saudi Arabia 66
Qatar 68
Oman 72
Worldwide, Singapore came first, followed by Hong Kong, South Korea, Japan and Taiwan. The UK ranked 20th, the US 28th and Ghana got the worst ranking at 76.
Amazing and embarrassing how our minister of education owns one of the biggest universities in Dubai and is doing nothing for the education in his own hometown.. money-driven politicians..
More like 58th out of 76…the title is way too misleading.
The study was done globally on 76 countries as mentioned in the post.
on 76 countries, which means Leb isss wayyy too behind ,it doesn’t surprise me why sooo many pple don’t even know basic English ,what a failure
Yiiiiiy quelle honte! Quelle catastrophe! Des libanais qui ne savent pas “basic english”? Chou hal bahdaleh! Yiiiiy ta rou7 3a dubai au moins mes enfants auront une bonne education! Kif ba3ed fikon t3icho dans ce pays? ! Jusqu’a preuve du contraire, el lebnene manno medtar ye7ke englize ya lina. W sad2ineh, go to Europe and then tell me about how some develop countries’ citizen know “basic english”. (ex: France, Italy, Spain, among others)
Lebanon’s educational system may not be perfect, but our elite schools do have excellent standards, and each year students passing the French baccalaureate in Lebanon score higher than students in France. We send students to the best universities all around the world. So no, Leb is not “waaaay behind”. What we lack is a proper PUBLIC schooling system, but like everything else in Lebanon, the private sector had to ensure an alternative for our failed state, and so far our private school network has been working very well and forms highly educated citizens.
Finally, it would be interesting to make to compare the costs of education between these countries, specifically between Lebanon and Dubai. Education in the gulf is at least twice as expensive as in Lebanon – talking about reputable international schools obviously.
to Some guy living in Beiruttt ,i’ve been to Europe and at least the cab driver speaks basic english ,good luck andd yess quelle honte for Leb ,i am ashamed ,they laugh at us abroad ,yesss and indiansss speak basic english in the UAE ,shameee on youu for daring to arguee with me ,its just theres no need to argue with stupids
Dear Lina, I wanted to praise some guy in Beirut’s wonderful comment, but then I saw yours. Please understand that space comes after the comma and not otherwise.
hehehe , there’s no need to put a space ,pleaase we’re not in kindergarden ,what’s really stupid abt this country is that you all argue ,nothing to do but argue all day ,for once i’m going to reply that your need to argue is based on nothing but the need to pretend that Leb is the most amazing country in the workd with all these brainwashing motivational pictures on instagram , and thaaaat lebanese have thisss wonderful educational system while a looot of pple don’t even know basic english andd most are high school drop outs ,yess now you’re going to tell me the educational system is expensive in Leb and yes it is ,buuut pleaase don’t try to always search for excuses ,one can seld educate too ,at least in basic english anddd yess that’s why i’m lamenting Lebanon’s position at nb 58 .
On a final note ,lebanese always try to find excuses and always argue and for once i’m gonna tell the truth abt pple in this country
kindergarTen*… learned that in a public school in Lebanon
I did balance first comment and showed that yes, we lack a good public system, but on the other hand the private one makes up for it. Can we do better? Of course we can, and the article explains that we have a lot of growth potential.
Now there is no need to take out your anger in a comment on a blog post. You think Lebanon is a failure, that is your choice, but please keep your negativity and hatred for yourself while others try to remain optimistic, positive, and try to push the country forward without always nagging. And always remember that the grass is not always greener on the other side.
Sur ce, have a good day!
Lina! I think you are the only person arguying! And I dont know where you live or if you are lebanese or not! But let me tell you that i live in paris since 5 years and yes french/spanish/italian/mexican/brezilian people dont speak english well and all are amazed by our knowledge of fench and english! Plus no one said Lebanon or lebanese people are perfect and if they did why does this upset you!?!? Everyone has his or her opinion and no need for agressive comments! On a side note, i studied in a public school from age 12 to 18 then i passed the engineering test and was accepted in the lebanese university brench 2 and now i just defended my thesis in Paris! So yes I think the lebanese education has a lot of flaws but yet we had the right tools to succeed!
dear Nadine ,i never said that the lebanese educational system isn’t good ,i said it’s not as perfect and amazing as pple claim to be .However ,i’m still surprised at its spot at nb 58 ,and i’m nott arguing at all,i’m just showing how lebanese like guy living in beirut praise their system like its sonething perfect and amazing and soo out of this world and muuuuch better than Europe ,so please ma testahwen Europeans please
ohhh and to guy living in beirut ,your first need to reply shows how a biased subjectively patriotic individual you must be ,have a nice day too ,i hope the country moves forward and not backwards like the 69 motorbike stunt doers on the highways like the blogger posted in another post
I think “basic english” is not a real measure of how good a country’s education system is.
I think a better measure would be the ratio of people who understand the theory of evolution versus those who believe the world was created by a space magician in 7 days. Or the total number of people who believe angels and demons are real versus those who require their beliefs or convictions be substantiated by scientific evidence. Or the number of people who still think it is right to judge others (and sometimes kill them) based on mythical books we believe were descended upon us by sky daddy, his son, his ghosts, or his beloved prophet(s) versus those who think we should let others decide how they should eat their bacon, drink their alcohol, choose their spouses or worship their bullshit.
I believe THAT is a real measure of how backward our society is. I don’t know if any amount of education would suffice.
Bwahahahaha! Yep.