Explained: What is PISA and how it impacts the global education system
Programme for International Student Assessment, better known as PISA is a study that evaluates the global education system. It recently released its evaluation (called the ‘Global Competence Report’) for the year 2022 that stressed on the need for worldwide competence in the educational sector in the post-pandemic context. It also revealed how specific student groups perform in comparison to their peers from other countries. Here’s a closer look at PISA and its role in maintaining the international education system.
What is PISA?
PISA is a global study conducted by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), an intergovernmental organisation that was established in 1961. It has 38 member states and maintains economic progress and global trade.
PISA is conducted every three years since 2000 across both member and non-member countries of OECD with the goal to study educational systems. This includes evaluating academic performance of school students who are aged 15 years or above in subjects such as Mathematics, Reading and Science.
Its primary aim is to help nations improve both their education policies as well as outcomes by giving them access to global data. These include: quality of education in a specific field, equity in educational opportunities and overall well-being of students.
Where is India in PISA ranking?
In the latest PISA ranking, the top five countries were Singapore, Canada, Estonia, Finland and China. India, after a lot of speculations, have finally administered on the PISA evaluation and will be assessed from the next year.
How does PISA help countries improve their educational policies?
To begin with, PISA helps formulate global education policies by assessing the scholastic performance of students worldwide. It then shares the data across participating countries who draw comparisons from it. However, the best help that PISA offers is figuring out what practices in the educational sector are the most successful.
For instance, PISA helps in determining the learning outcomes of students across various economic backgrounds and how teaching skills directly affect the quality of education. Thereafter, PISA helps in forwarding the information to relevant nations enabling them to conduct their own research and improve their own education system.
How does PISA address the learning gaps in its recent report?
As revealed time and again, the Covid-19 pandemic has led to learning gaps among students across the world. In such a context, this year’s PISA Global Competence Report has declared that to address this gap and enhance global competence in the education sector, more countries need to seriously reconsider their learning goals. These should include effective teaching strategies, focusing on holistic education and openness to other perspectives. Keeping these in mind, OECD has formed a collaboration with policy makers and educationists from across the world and set up a committee to address the challenges associated with improving global competence in education.