Melbourne, Australia – According to the latest OECD Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) results, Australian high school students are about three to four years behind the top performers from Asian countries in mathematics.
Jon Lee, 41, who immigrated to Australia as a child, agrees. “It seems we’re at least thirty years behind realizing that we’re at least three years behind some Asian countries in maths,” he said. “I could have told you that on my second day of primary school here, but my English was admittedly s—.”
Nonetheless, some experts claim that Australian education “is still sorta world-class”.
“Look, we might not be able to compete with Asian countries,” said Dr Sum Bo Di, research fellow at the Australian Council for Educational Research, “but our standards are pretty stable and our younger generation is more than capable of counting sausages for sausage sizzles and giving the correct change. Mostly.”
Jon Lee’s cousin, Kevin, doesn’t mind the relatively lower standards found in Australia. “My kids aren’t that good at mathematics, and in Hong Kong, they’ll be like in middle of the class,” he said. “But here, they top of the class, you know.”
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