KUWAIT: (From left) Salah Dabsha, Sheikha Al-Hajraf and Mona Al-Ansari attend the press conference. - KUNA

KUWAIT: The Assistant Undersecretary for the Educational Research and Curriculum at Kuwait's Ministry of Education (MoE) and Director of National Center for Education Development (NCED) Salah Dabsha said that Kuwait ranked first in the world in the indicator of order plus safety in schools, according to a study conducted by Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) with 77 percent of eighth graders in mathematics. During a press conference held yesterday at MoE headquarters, the preliminary results of the TIMSS 2019 study showed that Kuwait ranked second worldwide in science, with 75 percent of students, he pointed out.

Dabsha referred to Kuwait's participation in international studies to assess the education system, highlighting the high results while commending Kuwait's commitment to the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) study. Kuwait ranked second worldwide on the level of job satisfaction index for science teachers in eighth grade, while it ranked fifth in fourth grade, ranked fifth in eighth grade and seventh in fourth grade mathematics, he mentioned. Dabsha underscored the ministry's interest in all international studies that evaluate the educational system in order to work to develop and improve education in Kuwait, pointing out that Kuwait has been able to advance education.

Participation in these studies is vital for evaluating the educational system and identifying weaknesses that need clarification, he explained, noting that the past years witnessed a study of the possibility of raising Kuwait's capacity and contributing to improving the system, which has already led to making a difference in results.

Another view, Mona Al-Ansari, a science instructor and member of the core team of the TIMSS study, at the conference reviewed Kuwait's high results in science, pointing out that the level of students in fourth grade increased by 55 points to 392 points instead of 337 in the TIMSS 2015 study, while the level of eighth grade students increased to 33, a score of 444 instead of 411 in the 2015 study.

Ansari pointed to the link between the learner's admiration for science and academic achievement, explaining that the more the learner enjoys the science subject, the more points one will score in the TIMSS international tests, which recommends the necessity of working to entice the learner in science class.

Meanwhile, Sheikha Al-Hajraf, a technical instructor for mathematics and a member of the main team for the TIMSS study, reviewed the results of mathematics, indicated that Kuwait is among 14 countries that achieved an increase in the average educational attainment in fourth grade after advancing by 30 points, while eighth grade students advanced 11 points. Hajraf pointed to the indicator of the student's sense of belonging to the school and its impact on the rate of achievement in mathematics, saying that the greater the learner's sense of belonging to the school, the greater one's educational attainment, which calls for eagerness to make the school a captivating environment.

She emphasized the importance of making the school environment safe and orderly, pointing out that the study showed Kuwait's class environment is safe and orderly by 82 percent of fourth graders and 77 percent of eighth graders. It is worth noting that TIMSS is an international study that aims to focus on educational policies and systems, study the effectiveness of applied curricula, methods of teaching them, their practical application, evaluate achievement and provide information to improve the teaching, as well as learning of mathematics and science, as this study is a project of IEA, based in the Netherlands. - KUNA