Korean 15-year-olds rank among the OECD's top performers in creative thinking. Shown are high school students in Seoul starting their day in December last year. (Yonhap News)

By Charles Audouin

The country's 15-year-olds rank among the best in creative thinking among those in member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

The Ministry of Education on June 18 announced the content of the "Creative Minds, Creative Schools" report of the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA).

The OECD-run PISA, a triennial international survey launched in 2000, assesses the reading, mathematics, science and creative thinking abilities of 15-year-old students in participating countries. Of the 64 nations that took part, Korea polled 6,931 students from 186 schools.

With an average score of 38 out of a possible 60, the nation was tied for second with Canada behind leader Singapore with 41. The OECD average for creative thinking was 33.

Creative thinking refers to the ability to effectively solve problems using a variety of ideas. PISA measured this quality through 32 questions that tested students' ability to create, express and implement solutions.

PISA 2022 also surveyed educational context factors that could explain the relationship with creative thinking achievement. Korea scored above the OECD average in creative thinking in school environment and participation in creative school activities.

The ministry said "We were able to confirm school efforts to improve the creative thinking skills of students."

On the nation's low score in the creative thinking self-efficacy index, the ministry quoted the OECD as saying countries with higher scores in creative thinking tend to have lower indexes in self-efficacy.

caudouin@korea.kr