Read the following passage and do the tasks below. Southeast Asian Countries’ PISA Rankings 2012 Once every three years, 15-year-olds from around the world are tested on how well they know their reading, maths and science. This is called the Programme for International Student Assessment, or PISA for short. It is run by the Organization for Economic Coopertation and Development or OEC D. Over half a million students from 65 countries and economies took part in PISA 2012. The result of the ...

Read the following passage and do the tasks below.

Southeast Asian Countries’ PISA Rankings 2012 Once every three years, 15-year-olds from around the world are tested on how well they know their reading, maths and science. This is called the Programme for International Student Assessment, or PISA for short. It is run by the Organization for Economic Coopertation and Development or OEC D. Over half a million students from 65 countries and economies took part in PISA 2012. The result of the latest PISA 2012 had been announced on 3 December 2013. Only five out of ten ASEAN countries participated in PISA 2012. They were Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. - Singapore ranked 2nd in maths and 3rd in reading and science; - Vietnam, entered PISA tests for the first time, ranked 8th in science, 17th in maths and 19th in reading; - Thailand has been the participant in the PISA tests since 2000. It ranked 47 in science, 48th in reading and 50 in maths; - Malaysia got 52th in maths, 53rd in science and 59th in reading; - Indonesia got 61st in reading and got 64th in maths and science. Singapore’s 15-year-old students came in the top five in every area. Vietnamese students scored very well on all three PISA subjects. Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia ranked below average for the 65 countries assessed. The next administration of PISA is in 2015 and results will be reported at the end of 2016. ASEAN CORNER by Kru Ekachai (www.aseancorner.blogspot.com

1. What does PISA stand for?