Why PISA matters
The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is a standardised test of educational attainment used by nearly 80 countries over the past few decades. Organised by the Paris-headquartered Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), PISA is administered every three years to 15-year-old students from participating countries. The test evaluates student performance in mathematics, reading, and science and is designed by education experts from around the world.
PISA is a triennial international survey aimed at evaluating global education systems by testing students’ skills and knowledge.
Surprisingly, India withdrew from this test in 2009, citing ‘a socio-cultural disconnect between the questions and Indian students because of India’s unique socio-cultural milieu.’ However, it is believed that the actual reason was India’s poor performance, finishing second to last out of 74 countries. One contributing factor was perhaps the limited representation of students—only Himachal Pradesh and Tamil Nadu were selected to represent the country in 2009. A broader sample might have yielded different results.
The test is competency-based rather than content-based, measuring not just what students know but how they can apply their knowledge creatively.
In the 2018 edition, 79 countries participated, including both developed and developing nations. Asian countries such as Singapore, Japan, Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, and Vietnam also took part. Low-income and middle-income nations have all been participating. This prompted India to reconsider its position, leading to an agreement with the OECD to rejoin PISA in 2021 with students from Kendriya Vidyalayas (KVs) and Navodaya Vidyalayas (NVs). However, the decision was postponed due to the pandemic.
India now faces a decision about whether the central government will participate in 2025. Preparations should begin immediately if our students have to participate. Ideally, PISA should not be confined to KVs and NVs. There should be representation from public, private, and private-unaided schools across the nation. The test will achieve the objective only when a wider sample of students participate. These students should be cherry-picked from a cross-section to get reliable feedback. Every country is represented by 5,000 students in a similar fashion.
Many educational experts have been insisting that India should not stay out of this test, as PISA will help significantly improve India’s educational system. Many countries use the test to design new programmes or change the existing ones. Finland, for instance, used the test to promote new policies for their ‘gifted children’.
The OECD has reiterated its commitment to working with the World Bank and other partners in maintaining and developing PISA as a global yardstick for measuring success in education. India should not miss the bus yet again.
OECD is even prepared to contextualise the questions for Indian students. PISA uses test items aligned with international benchmarks. Test items are adapted to local context and language, pilot-tested, and validated before being used for the test.
PISA helps countries see themselves in comparison with other countries. It enables India to improve its educational policies and outcomes by measuring the problem-solving abilities and cognition of its students. When that happens, the country can actively consider possibilities to improve its school education. India’s budget allotment for education continues to be meagre. There has to be a considerable increase in the budget allocation to provide schools with good infrastructure and well-paid, qualified teachers. Schools need to be more attractive and more resourceful. Next to defence and health, school education should get the most funding.
If India wants to achieve its vision of a developed nation by 2047, the effort must start with our school education. The economic growth of a country, undoubtedly, is determined by the education of its people.
Our children are the future. If they are neglected, we will get nowhere. Our inward-looking attitude should change. Blaming Macaulay for everything that goes wrong today is a hypocritical approach. Let bygones be bygones. Let’s build a new nation with solid bricks, which are the schools dotting our country.
PISA will provide us valuable insights about the road to take. We should look outward and learn lessons from across the world. We should not hesitate to learn from others, whether from the east or the west.
Indian students are as brilliant as their counterparts elsewhere, if not better. It’s all about providing them the right environment, which includes good infrastructure in schools, capable teachers, and a favourable environment at home.
(The writer is Director, Little Rock Group of Institutions, Udupi)