Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, December 3) — The Philippines is ranked the lowest in reading comprehension and second lowest in science and mathematics among 79 countries, a global survey showed.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) tested around 600,000 15-year-old students in 79 countries through the 2018 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA).

Results showed that one in four students is unable to complete even the most basic reading tasks. OECD said that this could mean these students may struggle in their lives while living in a digital world.

PISA results revealed that the Philippines has an average reading score of 340, the lowest among the countries surveyed.

“Reading proficiency is essential for a wide variety of human activities – from following instructions in a manual; to finding out the who, what, when, where and why of an event; to communicating with others for a specific purpose or transaction,” said OECD.

“PISA recognizes that evolving technologies have changed the ways people read and exchange information, whether at home, at school or in the workplace.”

Further, the country obtained an average score of 353 in science and 357 in mathematics.

The cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu, and Zheijang in China topped all the categories. It was followed by Singapore.

“Results from PISA indicate the quality and equity of learning outcomes attained around the world, and allow educators and policy makers to learn from the policies and practices applied in other countries,” said OECD.

The survey suggested that interventions should be made to the students of countries, like the Philippines, where relationship between a student’s socio-economic status and performance is strong.

“However, the strength of the relationship between a student’s socio-economic status and his or her performance varied greatly across countries and economies. In systems where the relationship between the two was particularly strong, including Belarus, France, Hungary, Luxembourg, Peru, the Philippines, Romania and the Slovak Republic, interventions targeting disadvantaged students would be particularly important,” said the OECD.