In a report published on Monday 12 February by the European Commission on the results of the OECD’s 2022 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) study, an alarming picture emerges of the state of education systems in the European Union.
The study shows that almost 30% of pupils in the EU fail to reach the minimum competence level in mathematics. What’s more, the document reveals that 26.2% of young Europeans have inadequate reading skills, while the figure for science is 24.2%.
In addition to the scale of the shortfalls observed, this data highlights a significant increase compared with the previous results for 2018, when these figures were 22.9, 22.5 and 22.3% respectively.
Furthermore, the rate of pupils with a high level of attainment is falling, with only 7.9% of EU pupils reaching a high level in mathematics, compared with 11% in 2018.
Similar trends were observed in reading and science, with 6.5 and 6.9% of pupils respectively achieving this level, compared with 11, 8.1 and 6.3% 4 years earlier.
Several factors have been identified as contributing to the decline in educational performance. While the Covid-19 pandemic played an important role, the drop in results in some countries predates the pandemic, suggesting deeper systemic problems.
Socio-economic background remains a significant factor, with a growing gap between advantaged and disadvantaged pupils. Almost half of pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds (48%) are failing mathematics.
In response to this situation, the European Commission is highlighting a number of measures. Among these, the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), with €73 billion for investment in education and skills from 2021 to 2026, aims to strengthen the resilience of education systems.
Curriculum reforms have also been launched in a number of Member States, including Spain, Slovenia and Finland, to improve the acquisition of key skills such as digital literacy.
In response to the impact of the pandemic, some countries have also launched compensatory learning programmes for disadvantaged learners or increased their support for disadvantaged schools. The RRF also supports other measures, such as strengthening the teaching of science, technology, engineering and mathematics, developing quality assurance systems and strengthening the teaching profession.
In November 2022, a further step was taken with the adoption by EU education ministers of the EU Council recommendation ‘Pathways to School Success’ (see EUROPE 13072/5).
Finally, according to the report, the EU’s commitment to research and innovation through the Horizon Europe programme is helping to combat these low results and early school leaving.
The report: https://aeur.eu/f/au2 (Original version in French by Nithya Paquiry)