The 2011 Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS), in which Croatia took part for the first time, shows that Croatian pupils scored 553 points in reading achievement, 53 more than the international average, said the study coordinator for Croatia, Jasminka Buljan Culej.
In Croatia, girls are better in reading than boys by 14 points, boys are better than girls in math by ten points, while in science achievement there is no significant statistical difference between them.
The main factors contributing to Croatia's scores are inclusion at an early age, family and school support in learning, a violence-free school, school location, pupils' positive attitude towards learning, a family's socioeconomic situation, and parents' greater expectations of their children's further education.
The survey shows that pupils from Hong Kong, Russia, Finland, and Singapore are most successful in reading, pupils from Singapore, South Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan in math, and pupils from South Korea, Singapore, Finland and Japan in science.
More than 300,000 pupils aged 9-11 took part in the reading achievement study, including about 4,500 fourth-graders from 152 elementary schools in Croatia.
The survey shows that Croatian pupils do not like to read, ranking second to last. They realise that reading is important but use it only to study, not for fun.
Sixty-three countries took part in the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), covering 600,000 pupils, also aged 9-11, including 4,500 in Croatia. Croatian pupils ranked 30th with a score of 490, which is ten points below the international average.
In science, Croatian pupils scored 16 points above the international average.