The results of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2022 Creative Thinking Assessment, which was recently launched, show that the Philippines lags behind in creative thinking compared to other countries.
Among the 64 participating countries, the Philippines ranks fourth from the bottom with an average score of 14 points, only higher than Albania, which has the lowest score. This score is significantly below the OECD average of 33 points. The creative thinking ability of female students in the Philippines (average of 16 points) is also lower than the PISA average, as is the case with male students (average of 12 points).
The report also indicates that the Philippines, along with Albania, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria, Macao, Morocco, and Uzbekistan, has a significant weakness in overall creative thinking ability. Their scores are 3 points lower than expected after accounting for mathematics and reading performance.
The Philippines also lags behind in creative thinking compared to other Southeast Asian countries, by at least three to five years. This is consistent with previous PISA results showing low performance of Filipino students in reading, mathematics, and science.
On the other hand, the top five rankings include Singapore, Korea, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, with average scores of 41, 38, 38, 37, and 36 points respectively.
This assessment marks the first time PISA has tested students' ability to use their imagination and creativity to generate and develop ideas. Other Southeast Asian countries participating in the test, such as Indonesia, Thailand, Brunei, Malaysia, and Thailand, scored below the OECD average but still performed better than the Philippines.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) introduced the PISA 2022 Creative Thinking Assessment to measure students' ability to produce, evaluate, and develop original ideas. This test is part of the regular PISA assessment, which also includes reading, mathematics, and science.
Unlike other PISA tests with definitive answers, the Creative Thinking Assessment is open-ended, and student scores depend on human assessment. Andreas Schleicher, Director of Education and Skills at OECD, explains that this test aims to encourage students to express their imagination and produce creative solutions in various situations.
