Indonesian Students' Science Proficiency Ranked 6th in ASEAN

Indonesian students' science proficiency is considered low on the ASEAN scale.

This is evident from the 2022 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) report released by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

PISA defines science proficiency as "the capacity to use scientific knowledge to identify questions, acquire new knowledge, explain phenomena, and draw evidence-based conclusions about science-related issues."

To measure this proficiency, PISA conducts tests and surveys on a sample of 15-year-old students from dozens of countries.

PISA then classifies science proficiency into 7 levels, from the highest level 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1a, to 1b. The higher the number, the better the assumed proficiency.

In 2022, Indonesian students achieved a science proficiency score of 383 points, ranking 6th out of 8 ASEAN countries that participated in the PISA test.

With a score of 383, in 2022, Indonesian students' science proficiency fell into level 1a.

This means that, in general, Indonesian students are able to use basic scientific knowledge to identify simple scientific phenomena.

They are also able to identify simple cause-and-effect relationships or correlations, and interpret simple graphic and visual data.

However, students with level 1a scientific proficiency are not yet able to use abstract concepts to explain more complex phenomena, formulate hypotheses, make predictions, or question and identify the limitations of scientific data.

Meanwhile, a neighboring country with a very high science score is Singapore, namely 561.

This score makes Singapore the champion in ASEAN, and also the first rank out of 81 countries participating in the PISA test.

With a score of 561, Singaporean students on average have level 4 scientific proficiency, able to use more complex/abstract knowledge to explain more complicated events.

Singaporean students are also generally able to conduct experiments with scientific procedures, interpret fairly complex data, draw relevant conclusions, and formulate scientific justifications for their answers in the test.