Brussels, 03/12/2013 (Agence Europe) - The latest PISA 2012 study published on 3 December by the OECD in collaboration with the European Commission reveals that progress has been made in science and reading skills but maths knowledge continues to be poor among European Union schoolchildren. What is more, results are very varied between the member states. The results of the study were officially presented in Brussels by Deputy Secretary General of the OECD Yves Leterme and Director General of DG Education and Culture Jan Truszczynksi. “I congratulate those member states which have improved their performance, but it is clear that the EU as a whole needs to work harder. Member states must sustain their efforts to tackle low achievement in school education to ensure that youngsters have the skills they need to succeed in the modern world. The results are a reminder that investment in quality education is fundamental for Europe's future”, said European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth Androulla Vassiliou.
The PISA study has assessed the knowledge and skills of young people aged 15 every three years since 2000. It is carried out in the 34 OECD countries and 31 partner countries, and 510,000 pupils were tested in total. The EU achieves results that are generally better than those of the US - but not as good as those of Japan. Indeed, the countries of Asia come top of the general PISA ranking. Ten EU member states have recorded significant progress with regard to knowledge in the three main subjects (science, reading and maths) - Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Croatia, Latvia, Austria, Poland and Romania. By contrast, five member states have gone backwards in these subjects - Greece, Hungary, Slovakia, Finland and Sweden. The other member states have mixed results.
Reading skills. The percentage of pupils who are weak at reading has fallen since 2006. This was 23.1% in 2006, 19.7% in 2009 and 17.8% in 2012. The Commission certainly hopes that by 2020 this percentage will decrease further, enabling member countries to achieve the 15% benchmark. At this stage, only seven member states have reached this threshold - Estonia, Ireland, Poland, Finland, Netherlands, Germany and Denmark - and notable progress has been made by ten others.
Mathematics. Although this was already a weak point in 2000, no progress was achieved in this area in 2012. Nevertheless, four member states stand out from the rest - Estonia, Finland, Poland and the Netherlands, which are among the top performing countries worldwide with a rate of low achievers in maths below the EU benchmark of 15%. All the other member states are above this threshold but eight have nevertheless succeeded in lowering their rate by two percentage points in three years.
Science. Steady improvement in science has been recorded since 2009. Between 2006 and 2012, the percentage of low achievers in the EU dropped from 20.3% in 2006 to 17.8% in 2009 and to 16.6% in 2012. Ten member states are below the 15% benchmark - the Czech Republic, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Latvia, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovenia, Finland and the UK. Steady progress was made by nine member states, however.
The PISA study underlines that the socio-economic conditions in which pupils develop have a significant impact on their results. Pupils from low-income households are therefore more likely to lag behind in the three main subjects. Among the other significant factors are the mainly negative effects of being of migrant background. The importance of attending early childhood education is also highlighted for success at school, as is the gender of pupils, which seems to have an influence - with girls generally attaining better results than boys.
The Commission will now discuss the PISA 2012 conclusions with the member states to help identify measures that remedy these shortfalls. An initial discussion is planned for 24 February 2014 during the next formal meeting of the Education Council. The results will also be used for the Commission's 2014 European Semester, which produces country-specific recommendations linked to basic skills. (IL/transl.fl)