International study reveals NZ’s high level of literacy
9 March 2016
The acknowledgement that New Zealand is among the top five literate countries in the world is welcomed by NZEI Te Riu
Roa.
The study, the World’s Most Literate Nations, puts New Zealand among the top-ranking countries when it looked at a wide range of literate behaviours and their
supporting resources including the size and number of libraries and newspaper readership.
The report, by John W. Miller, president of the Central Connecticut State University, is far deeper in its assessment of
literacy and goes beyond the usual OECD measuring of PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) and PIRLS
(Progress in International Reading Literacy Study).
“It is about levels of literacy that meet the needs of a 21st century knowledge-based society,” says NZEI National
Secretary Paul Goulter.
“It is interesting to note that the study would have had very different outcomes if the PIRLS and PISA test scores were
the only indices used. In that case, Singapore, South Korea, Japan and China would have topped the list.”