المملكة: Qualitative improvement leads the Kingdom’s students to achieve a leap in international TIMSS results

The results of the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) for the year 2024 showed a noticeable improvement in the performance of male and female students in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, as fourth-grade students achieved progress of (22) points in mathematics and (26) points in science compared to previous tests, which reflects A remarkable development in the general level of academic achievement.
This improvement is a notable achievement at the international level, as the results showed that the Kingdom topped the list of the top three countries in terms of improvement compared between 2019 and 2023 AD.
This success is attributed to the continuous efforts led by the Ministry of Education within the framework of developing general education, and the initiatives of the Human Capacity Development Program, one of the programs of Saudi Vision 2030, which reflects the Kingdom’s commitment to reaching the international average by 2030 AD.

Educational achievement

It is noteworthy that the TIMSS tests measure the level of achievement of male and female students in mathematics and science for the fourth grades of primary school and the second intermediate grade, and are supervised by the International Organization for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA).
These achievements come in the context of the Kingdom’s record of qualitative improvement in international tests, as it recently recorded an advance of (19) points in the PIRLS reading test, and (16) points in the PISA mathematics test.

Reading skills

At the local level, the Education and Training Evaluation Commission revealed, during the School Excellence Conference, positive results for the national tests (NAFES 2024), where more than 60% of the Kingdom’s schools achieved an improvement in reading skills and reading comprehension by 10% or more. Also, 37% of primary schools recorded an improvement of more than 20%.
The Ministry of Education, in cooperation with its partners, works to raise the efficiency of its male and female students to enhance global competitiveness, through continuous development of curricula and study plans, and professional training for male and female teachers, in addition to effective partnerships with families to enhance their role in supporting educational achievement.