Japanese adults are farther ahead in maths and literacy skills than their peers in 23 other countries, according to a report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) published Tuesday.
The study, conducted in 22 OECD member states as well as Russia and Cyprus, involved tests on 166,000 people aged between 16 and 65.
Only 4.9 per cent of Japanese adults had scores of one or less on a scale of 1 to 5, indicating difficulty in reading a simple text.
The highest level 5 denotes the ability to search and process information from dense texts and evaluate evidence based arguments.
'Roughly every fifth Finn and Japanese reads at high levels (Level 4 or 5 on the Survey of Adult Skills),' the OECD Skills Outlook 2013 report said.
'This means, for example, that they can perform multiple-step operations to integrate, interpret, or synthesise information,' it said.
The corresponding figure was less than one per 20 for Spain and Italy. The OECD average was 15.5 per cent.
Japanese nationals aged between 25 and 34 who had only finished secondary education were further ahead in writing skills than university graduates in the same age bracket in Spain and in Italy, the report said.
The results were similar for mathematical ability with the Japanese outstripping the others. Only 8.1 per cent had problems in tackling a basic sum and were evaluated at level 1 or less.
Source: NewsOnJapan
