A few days after the announcement of the results of this year’s educational assessment of the OECD member countries, in which Romanian students were in one of the worst places, the Greeks of To Vima spoke to the director of the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), Andreas Schleicher, to analyze the situation and describe to us the reasons, which he believed led to such poor results.

Andreas Schleicher describes the negative consequences of the pandemic for three years on our education systems, but does not stop there.

He mainly insists on the relationship between students and teachers, as well as between parents and children, which should be such as to contain the avalanche of problems during a major crisis, Rador Radio Romania quotes.

To Vima: We now have the first official data on the impact of the pandemic on the world’s education systems. Did you see something that surprised you?

Andreas Schleicher: There is no doubt that we see a clear link between the degree (number and timing) of school closures and declining learning outcomes, but we also see countries that have continued to make progress despite the pandemic.

We also observed other factors negatively correlated with these results, such as a decrease in the level of protection of students’ interests by teachers, parental support and commitment to their children, or excessive use of smartphones.

To Vima: In which countries have you failed the most? Were there countries that were technologically equipped to some extent to solve this problem?

Andreas Schleicher: On the plus side, there is indeed a group of countries in this category that have made significant progress over the past decade. These countries show us that it is really possible.

You can see how Singapore went from good to great and continued to progress even during the pandemic. Macau, Japan and Estonia can also be seen. Portugal, Hungary and Israel have also made significant progress, although they have recently retreated. Turkey has made significant progress and at the same time has been able to enroll many more students in school. Romania and Moldova have achieved certain successes.

In the lower half of the spectrum, you can see how Qatar has made tremendous progress, and Montenegro has also progressed. Peru, Colombia and North Macedonia also advanced. In addition, Brazil is another country that has expanded access while improving quality.

“Limiting digital distractions is important”

To Vima: What are your tips for the next time period? What did we learn from this year’s PISA testing?

Andreas Schleicher: There are a few things we can learn from many countries about how they have dealt with the pandemic: the obvious takeaway for all of us is that schools should stay open longer and for more students.

But it is no less important that students themselves acquire a greater sense of responsibility for learning, outside of any pandemic. This is one of the main advantages that is needed today for continuous training and retraining.

From the data we’ve looked at, you can see how important it is for students to have teachers who know who they are, who they want to be, and like I said, who care about their journey. Creating a social foundation for learning is essential. It’s important to limit digital distractions. Building strong collaborative relationships with families and involving parents in student learning is also very important.

Dividing students into groups based on ability in different subjects and grades can also be productive, but it often becomes counterproductive and creates social divisions when students are constantly grouped into schools or when struggling students are forced to repeat a year instead of get the support you need to move around. forward.

Successful systems are those that manage to match their members and the materials they have with the needs around them. It is these systems that create “school-centers” of social interaction, where teachers are not only exceptional teachers, but also good coaches, good mentors, good coordinators who creatively design innovative learning environments. This is why good educational leadership and school autonomy are important.

Interview for Vima (takeover of Rador Radio Romania)

On the same topic:

• Data on the growth of functional illiteracy obtained by the Ministry of Education from the Romanian version of the PISA results report
• Lygia Deka, “inundated” with praise after the disastrous results of the PISA 2022 tests. “Has the communications team started a troll factory?”
• What Lygia Deka says about the excessive praise received after the disastrous results of the PISA tests