The following statement was issued today by Roger D. Grimes, Minister of Education. It was also read in the House of Assembly:

The results of the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) are being released today, concurrently with the national and international release of this major study of achievement in more than 50 countries. Newfoundland and Labrador has participated in this international study to show our commitment to achieving world class standards in education. I am pleased to see that there has been considerable improvement in mathematics and science achievement since 13-year old Newfoundland students last participated in international testing in mathematics and science in 1991.

The Third International Mathematics and Science Study is the largest and most ambitious study ever conducted under the auspices of the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA). The report being released today focuses on students who are at approximately the grade 8 level, or who are about 13 years of age.

In Mathematics, Canadian students did as well as or better than students in 30 other countries, with a score of 59. Newfoundland had a score of 56, which meant that our results were similar to those of Canada as a whole and our scores were better than the provinces of Ontario and New Brunswick. Newfoundland was also ahead of Australia, United States, Germany, New Zealand, Ireland, Scotland, and England.

In Science, Newfoundland was at the Canadian average, having 59 per cent of items on the tests correct, again Newfoundland scored higher than Ontario and New Brunswick. Nine of the participating countries scored higher than Canada. As with the mathematics, Newfoundland did better than Germany, United States, New Zealand, Ireland, and Scotland.

Even though we seem to be achieving better than ever before, this is no time to be complacent. In order for us to be economically viable and globally competitive, we have to strive continuously to be amongst the best in the world. We still have some distance to go to be at the level of countries such as Japan, Korea, Singapore and the western provinces of Alberta and British Columbia, but there is evidence that our education system is improving steadily. This government remains committed to measuring performance and addressing areas of weakness in our school system.