"Wow!" KHDA Praises Dubai Schools and Students as Within Touching Distance of Best in World for Financial Literacy and Creativity in OECD Pisa Global Rankings.

News

Now Reading

“Wow!” KHDA Praises Dubai Schools and Students as Within Touching Distance of Best in World for Financial Literacy and Creativity in OECD Pisa Global Rankings.

Next
Prev

Children awe struck and say wow as KHDA announced PISA 2022 Results for Financial literacy and creativity in Dubai Private Schools

Background – KHDA Recognise Private Schools in Dubai Achieving Second Place for Financial Literacy, and Top 10 for Creativity, in Pisa 2022 Global Rankings

The KHDA have announced that Dubai’s private schools have achieved an exceptional second place in the world recognition for their student’s financial literacy, and sixth place for their creative thinking, in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2022 global rankings by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

Financial literacy is explained by the OECD as follows:

“Financial literacy is […] recognised as a life skill for the 21st century, ensuring students have the ability to make sound financial decisions as they grow into responsible adults, navigate an ever-changing financial landscape and cope with emerging risks.

“PISA undertook its first financial literacy assessment in 2012, focusing on the knowledge and understanding that 15-year-olds across the world have of money matters.

“Building upon initial results and financial education work globally, the scope of the financial literacy assessment has been expanded to look not only at students’ financial knowledge, attitudes and behaviours, but also at how parents, schools and peers can help students improve their financial literacy.”

Defining Financial Literacy. OECD. 2024

Creative Thinking is defined by the OECD as:

“Creative thinking is the way of thinking that leads to the generation of valuable and original ideas.

“All people are capable of engaging in creative thinking and practicing ‘everyday’ creativity (addressing everyday activities in a non-conventional way). Creative thinking can be applied not only to contexts related to the expression of imagination, such as creative writing or the arts, but also to other areas where the generation of ideas is functional to the investigation of issues, problems or society-wide concerns.

“The PISA assessment […] examines students’ capacities to generate diverse and original ideas, and to evaluate and improve ideas, across a range of contexts or ‘domains’. The assessment includes four domains: written expression, visual expression, social problem solving and scientific problem solving.

“In each of these domains, students engage with open tasks that have no single correct response. They are either asked to provide multiple, distinct responses, or to generate a response that is not conventional. These responses can take the form of a solution to a problem, of a creative text or of a visual artefact.”

Defining Creative Thinking. OECD. 2024

How did Dubai Students and Schools Perform?

Dubai private schools ranked second out of twenty participating countries and regions for financial literacy, scoring 522 points. This compares to the OECD global average of 498 points. Eighty two percent of the 4,478 participating students from Dubai reported competence in managing their money, and seventy nine percent reported having savings plans and budgets for future purchases.

In Creative Thinking, Dubai private schools ranked sixth out of sixty-four participating countries and regions, scoring thirty-six points. This compares to the OECD global average of thirty-three points. Eighty four percent of 7,474 participating students from the emirate’s private schools performed at the OECD baseline level or above in creative thinking skills. Almost three quarters of students in Dubai private schools identified themselves as competent in generating innovative ideas for projects.

Praise from the KHDA

Her Excellency Aisha Abdulla Miran Director General of KHDA Dubai schools 2024 SchoolsCompared

Pictured: Her Excellency Aisha Abdulla Miran, Director General of KHDA

Her Excellency Aisha Abdulla Miran, Director-General of the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA), told SchoolsCompared.com:

“We are immensely proud of our students and schools’ performance in these international assessments, which underscore Dubai’s reputation as a premier destination for high quality education that equips students with future skills for a rapidly changing world.

“We are grateful to all the school leaders who play an important role in motivating and inspiring teachers and students to improve their performance, to teachers who encourage students to develop their abilities and discover their potential, to parents who support and encourage their children to achieve their goals, and to students whose hard work and resilience brought about this remarkable result.

“These results reaffirm Dubai’s position as a leader in education, aligning with the leadership’s vision and goals of D33 and Dubai Social Agenda 33, and reflects our commitment to fostering an environment where students can thrive and contribute meaningfully to the development of our society.”

Fatma Belrehif Chief Executive Officer, Dubai Schools Inspection Bureau PISA 2022 Financial literacy KHDA

Pictured: Fatma Belrehif, Chief Executive Officer, Dubai Schools Inspection Bureau

Fatma Belrehif, Chief Executive Officer of the Dubai Schools Inspection Bureau, continued:

“This study provides comprehensive data on the financial and creative thinking skills of our students, providing school leaders and educational policymakers with detailed insights to build plans and policies that equip students with future skills.

“The results of the study show that schools that excel in creative thinking also achieve high scores in mathematics, reading, and science. This highlights the importance of developing our students’ capabilities across all fields to prepare them for the future.

“We appreciate the vital role of school leaders, teachers and parents in enhancing our students’ abilities and their positive contributions to the overall development of various sectors.”