A Sad note - Indian students rank 2nd last in global test - PISA

MUMBAI:Across the world, India is seen as an education powerhouse - based largely onthe reputation of a few islands of academic excellence such as the IITs. Butscratch the glossy surface of our education system and the picture turnsseriously bleak.

Fifteen-year-oldIndians who were put, for the first time, on a global stage stood second tolast, only beating Kyrgyzstan when tested on their reading, math and scienceabilities.

India ranked second last among the 73 countries that participated in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), conducted annually to evaluate education systemsworldwide by the OECD(Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) Secretariat. Thesurvey is based on two-hour tests that half a million students are put through.

China's Shanghai province, which participated in PISA for the first time,scored the highest in reading. It also topped the charts in mathematics andscience.

"More than one-quarter of Shanghai's 15 year olds demonstrated advanced mathematicalthinking skills to solve complex problems, compared to an OECD average of just3%," noted the analysis.

The states of Tamil Nadu and Himachal Pradesh, showpieces for education anddevelopment, were selected by the central government to participate in PISA,but their test results were damning.

15-yr-old Indians 200 points behind global topper

Tamil Nadu and Himachal, showpieces of India's education and development, faredmiserably at the Programme for International Student Asssment, conducted by theOrganisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Secretariat.

An analysis of the performance of the two states showed:

In math, considered India's strong point, they finished second and third tolast, beating only Kyrgyzstan

When the Indian studentswere asked to read English text, again Tamil Nadu and Himachal Pradesh werebetter than only Kyrgyzstan. Girls were better than boys

The science results were the worst. Himachal Pradesh stood last, this timebehind Kyrgyzstan. Tamil Nadu was slightly better and finished third from thebottom

The average 15-year-old Indian is over 200 points behind the global topper.Comparing scores, experts estimate that an Indian eighth grader is at the levelof a South Korean third grader in math abilities or a second-year student fromShanghai when it comes to reading skills.

The report said: "In Himachal, 11% of students are estimated to have aproficiency in reading literacy that is at or above the baseline level neededto participate effectively and productively in life. It follows that 89% ofstudents in Himachal are estimated to be below that baseline level."

Clearly, India will have to ramp up its efforts and get serious about what goeson in its schools. "Better educational outcomes are a strong predictor forfuture economic growth," OECD secretary-general Angel Gurria told TheTimes of India.

"Whilenational income and educational achievement are still related, PISA shows thattwo countries with similar levels of prosperity can produce very differentresults. This shows that an image of a world divided neatly into rich andwell-educated countries and poor and badly-educated countries is now out ofdate."

In case of scientific literacy levels in TN, students were estimated to have amean score that was below the means of all OECD countries, but better thanHimachal. Experts are unsure if selecting these two states was a good idea.

ShaheenMistry, CEO of Teach For India programme, said, "I am glad that now thereis data that lets people know how far we still have to go."

Source: Times of India