Educational Olympics: Literacy By Nation

See who which nations rank the highest in math, reading, geography and science.

When it comes to educational Olympics, not one single country emerges as the overall literacy winner. In fact, countries across the globe have different standards when it comes to educating their youth. While the United States has 12 years of compulsory education, this isn’t necessarily the standard for the rest of the world. For instance, Germany requires 13 years of education while Angola only requires four.

In 22 countries, at least half of the population is illiterate. 15 African countries have an illiteracy rate of 50 percent or higher. Interestingly, in Iceland, women earn more than two-thirds of college degrees overall.

When compared to other countries across the globe, the United States does not fare well in mathematics, reading, geography, and scientific literacy. In fact, the U.S. did not place in a top 10 slot for any of these subjects.

Here is a breakdown of the top literacy levels by subject matter and how the United States places overall.

Mathematical Literacy

The United States ranks 18 overall in mathematical literacy when students are tested at age 15. Here are the countries that ranked in the top 10:

1. Japan

2. South Korea

3. New Zealand

4. Finland

5. Canada

5. Austria

7. UK

8. Switzerland

9. Belgium

10. France

Reading Literacy

United States’ students are ranked 15 for reading literacy worldwide. These countries ranked higher in this category:

1. Finland

2. Canada

3. New Zealand

4. Austria

5. Ireland

6. South Korea

7. UK

8. Japan

9. Sweden

10. Iceland

Geography Aptitude

Students in the United States rank 96^th in the world for geographic aptitude. Here are the countries that ranked highest:

1. Philippines

2. Croatia

3. Liechtenstein

4. Ghana

5. Belgium

6. Brazil

7. Israel

8. Kyrgyzstan

9. Czech Republic

10. Estonia

Scientific Literacy

By age 15, students in the United States place 18^th in the world for scientific literacy. Here are the countries, in order, that place in the top 10 positions for scientific literacy:

1. South Korea

2. Japan

3. Finland

4. UK

5. Canada

6. Australia

7. New Zealand

8. Austria

9. Ireland

10. Sweden

The United States’ low educational rankings worldwide is–many educators believe–evidence of an educational crisis. Educators and politicians fear that these low scores will place the next generation of college graduates at a disadvantage in the global economy when they compete for jobs across the globe.

These low scores–and the results of other standardized tests–have prompted suspicions that Congress may take a closer look at the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB). According toThe New York Times’ article, “Obama to Seek Sweeping Change in ’No Child’ Law” by Sam Dillon published January 31, 2010, the Obama Administration “is proposing a sweeping overhaul” of NCLB. According to Dillon, “[a] new goal, which would replace the 2014 universal proficiency deadline, would be for all students to leave high school ‘college or career ready.’” Hopefully, when the next test results are published, U.S. students will rise in the ranks as being among the most highly-educated students worldwide.