Teens' math, reading in unprecedented decline -OECD

Bangkok Post Group

Mathematics and reading skills among teenagers are in an unprecedented decline across dozens of countries – and school closures during the pandemic are only partly to be blamed, the OECD said on Tuesday (December 5) in its latest survey of global learning standards. - REUTERS

Transcript

00:00 Teenagers' mathematics and reading skills are in an unprecedented decline across dozens

00:06 of countries.

00:08 And school closures during the global health crisis are only partly to blame.

00:13 That's according to an OECD survey on Tuesday.

00:16 The Paris-based Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development said it had seen

00:21 some of the steepest drops in performance since 2000, when it began its triennial tests

00:27 of 15-year-olds' reading, math and science skills.

00:31 It's an exercise closely watched by policy makers as the largest international comparison

00:36 of education performance.

00:38 In the latest study conducted last year, nearly 700,000 teens from the OECD's 38 mostly developed

00:44 country members and 44 non-members took the two-hour test.

00:49 OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann summarised the findings.

00:53 "Overall, the 2022 assessment saw an unprecedented drop in performance across the OECD.

01:02 Compared to 2018, mean performance fell by 10 score points in reading and by almost 15

01:10 score points in maths, which is equivalent to half a year's worth of learning progress

01:15 in reading and three quarters of a year's worth in mathematics."

01:20 He added that the sharp decline in math performance was three times greater than any previous

01:25 consecutive change.

01:27 On average across the OECD, the study found one in four 15-year-olds tested as a low performer

01:33 in math, reading and science.

01:35 But what are the reasons?

01:37 OECD Education Director Andreas Schleicher said the global health crisis will have played

01:42 some role, but it shouldn't be overstated.

01:45 "You could see digital distractions and that is true also for students in Brazil.

01:50 There's a high share of young people basically feeling anxious, distracted by their digital

01:56 devices in classrooms.

01:58 I think that's a factor.

02:00 The decline in parental support, we have seen how important parents are at home and also

02:06 in engaging with school and that has dropped.

02:09 All of those things could have played a role in the decline."

02:12 Countries that provided extra teacher support during Covid school closures scored better.

02:18 Poorer results tended to be associated with higher rates of mobile phone use for leisure

02:22 and where schools reported teacher shortages.

02:25 The OECD said the decline was not inevitable though.

02:29 In Singapore, students scored the highest in math, reading and science, with results

02:34 that suggested they were on average five to three years ahead of their OECD peers.

02:38 Macau, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea also outperformed in math and science,

02:44 with Estonia and Canada scoring well.

02:47 In reading, Ireland, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan earned top marks, all the more notable

02:52 in Ireland and Japan because their spending per student was no higher than the OECD average.

02:58 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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