The PISA Report provides data on 90 educational systems worldwide and ranks them in a final ranking. It does not explain the reasons for the scores. But on this occasion, after the global debacle, it wrote a separate chapter to indicate that the widespread collapse, especially in reading, coincides in time with two phenomena: the widespread use of mobile phones and the use of AI. It links intensive use of artificial intelligence with lower performance. The countries that perform best have used less AI. Spain, in this regard, is a champion in the use and frequency of AI.
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At the press conference on the publication of the report, the largest global education assessment, OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann did point out a series of priorities to redirect the situation.
Cormann insisted that digital devices are not harmful in themselves, but “it all depends on how they are used,” and that the problem is that what has increased is the use students make of them for entertainment, which causes problems for paying attention, for example with complex texts. He pointed to greater guidance in the use of mobile phones and in learning how to use AI.
Fewer objectives and deeper
The Secretary-General set half a dozen priorities to correct some of these trends, starting with a message to educational administrations: define “demanding” school objectives but also “teach fewer things and in greater depth.”
Resources
Secondly, resources. “Teachers must be given what they need to work as best as possible,” he said, explicitly referring to the need to implement continuous training for teachers and mechanisms to relieve them of administrative tasks so that their time is devoted to students.
Andreas Schleicher
“Parents see themselves more as customers of a school than as people interested in their children’s learning.”
Vulnerable schools
In this regard, Cormann ruled out a one-size-fits-all approach. There are schools with vulnerable students that require intensive resources to prevent them from falling behind. Although PISA reflects a decline among all students, greater among children from advantaged families, the gap still exists. Overcoming these inequalities depends on resources.
Family attention
Education, the Secretary emphasized, depends not only on schools but on the whole community, so the effort to reverse the situation must be everyone’s. Also families, who seem to have neglected their role of support and demand in recent times.
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Andreas Schleicher, Director of Education at the OECD, was more explicit: “Parents see themselves more as customers of a school than as people interested in their children’s learning.”
In the report, students who said a family member asked them at least once a week what they had done at school that day scored about 35 points higher on the PISA science test—equivalent to more than a year and a half of learning—compared to those whose families showed less interest. Disinterest seems directly related to performance, which could explain the decline among students from high-income families.
Interest in science
On the other hand, Cormann insisted that the interest of students with better scientific results must be captured so that they pursue studies and professions in science because a loss of talent is perceived as these disciplines are not considered attractive.
Spain
The OECD Director of Education, Andreas Schleicher, specifically referred to Spain. He said that while in Germany the gap in school results is largely explained by its relationship with the socioeconomic level of students’ families, in Spain this happens to a much lesser extent. That is, it is a more equitable system. The reason is that “in Germany, children from disadvantaged backgrounds go to more disadvantaged schools. It is a political decision,” he said.
Schleicher emphasized that a country’s wealth per capita only explains half of the differences between countries with the worst and best scores. “The other half,” he added, “is explained by public action” in the education system. Also by the aspirations and expectations of society as a whole. If these are not high, demand is lost.
The proof is that there are “countries that have many resources but use them effectively.” It is not only countries at the top of the PISA lists, such as China, Singapore, or South Korea, but others like Cambodia, which is one of those that has shown the best progress.
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