The Centre for Evaluation and Assessment (CEA) is the national co-ordinator for the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS). PIRLS is a research study conducted under the auspices of the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) that provides internationally comparative data about student reading achievement and associated factors. The data collection phase of the PIRLS 2011 study was completed last year with South Africa’s Grade 4 (pre-PIRLS) and Grade 5 (PIRLS) learners in all eleven official languages in conjunction with 50 countries world-wide, and the CEA is currently on the data analysis and report writing phase of the project.

The main aim of the meeting, hosted by the Education Ministry of Singapore, was to review exhibits and draft text for the PIRLS 2011 International results in reading and the TIMSS 2011 International results in mathematics and science. The meeting covered aspects of the international PIRLS and TIMSS (Trends in Mathematics and Science Study) 2011 reports due for release on 11 December 2012 at a webcast conference in Amsterdam. The meeting also consisted of a day of training in the basic use of the International Database Analyser (IDB analyser), specifically for those NRCs who are new to the PIRLS and TIMSS studies and have yet to familiarise themselves with the technical aspects of data analysis.

The meeting was concluded with visits to some of the schools in Singapore as well as a cultural tour to Little India and Chinatown.