TOKYO: Japanese elementary and junior high school students continued to get high science and math scores in an international survey in 2023, the education ministry said Wednesday.

Japan’s average score for math among elementary school fourth graders fell 2 points from the previous test to 591, remaining in fifth place in the world, according to the results of the 2023 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study.

The average math score among Japanese eighth graders, or students in the second year of junior high school, rose 1 point to 595, staying in fourth in the global rankings.

For science, fourth graders scored an average of 555, down 7 points, causing Japan’s ranking to fall from fourth to sixth. Japan’s average score among eighth graders fell 13 points to 557, remaining the third highest in the world.

Still, Japan’s education ministry said that the country’s science and math scores “remained at high levels.”

Noting that there was a question on animals living in the desert in the science test for fourth graders, the ministry said that the score was “affected by a certain number of questions (on topics) that were unfamiliar to Japanese children.”

The ministry also said that the science scores of eighth graders fell internationally.

Japan’s science scores were “not a cause for concern,” the ministry concluded.

The TIMSS survey is conducted every four years by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement.

The 2023 survey covered fourth graders from 58 countries and regions and eighth graders from 44 nations and regions. In Japan, some 3,900 students from 141 elementary schools and 3,900 students from 133 junior high schools participated.

While this was Japan’s first time using the computer-based format, the ministry said that the transition did not have a major impact on the test results.

A related questionnaire showed that more junior high school students in Japan found studying math and science to be fun and useful in their daily life. On the other hand, the proportion of those who said that they were good at math and or science fell among both elementary and junior high school students.

JIJI Press