13 March 2019 at 9:00 am
New Zealand tops English-speaking countries in Educating for the Future ranking
New Zealand has ranked third in the Economist Intelligence Unit’s second edition of its Worldwide Educating for the Future Index 2018, which was announced last week.
There were just 1.6 points between top-ranked Finland (80.9), second place-getter Switzerland (80.3) and New Zealand on 79.3 points.
The overall ranking was a small drop for New Zealand, which ranked first out of 35 economies in the first EIU report which came out in September 2017. However, the 2018 ranking involves 50 economies and additional indicators on which countries were evaluated.
"This is a very good result for New Zealand," said ENZ Chief Executive Grant McPherson.
"New Zealand retains its position as the number one English-speaking country in the ranking as well as its top ranking in the Asia-Pacific region.
"Along with Finland, New Zealand is the only country that has been in the top 3 two years in a row."
The index evaluates the way that countries approach future-focused education to encompass problem-based learning, innovative teaching methods and broader themes of global citizenship.
It has a focus on young people aged 15 to 24 in 50 economies, and measures three pillars of education systems – policy approaches, teaching conditions and broader gauges of societal freedom and openness – as a means of preparing young people to meet the challenges of work and society in future.
You can read the full report here.
The top 10 country rankings were:
|
Rank |
Economy |
Score |
|
1 |
Finland |
80.9 |
|
2 |
Switzerland |
80.3 |
|
3 |
New Zealand |
79.3 |
|
4 |
Sweden |
78.1 |
|
5 |
Canada |
77.9 |
|
6 |
Netherlands |
76 |
|
7 = |
Germany |
74.8 |
|
7 = |
Singapore |
74.8 |
|
9 |
France |
74.2 |
|
10 |
UK |
74.1 |
