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Assessing Students in International Standard

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February 23, 2017

Why in news?

The Ministry of Human Resource Development decided to re-enter the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA).

What is PISA?

  • Programme for International Student Assessment PISA is a global evaluation of 15-year-olds conducted by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development to test mathematical, scientific and reading skills of school students.
  • A major goal of PISA is to untangle the factors that are associated with educational outcomes and to guide governments in constructing policies that improve these outcomes.
  • During the UPA government, India had quit the test, complaining about questions being set “out of context” in relation to the Indian socio-cultural background.

Is PISA out of Indian context?

  • Indian student may find it more comfortable to do sums using mangoes rather than avocados for units.
  • But it is to be understood that the context of math and science is the universe and its contents.
  • But Shanghai’s students succeeded in test involving European motifs.
  • This suggests that the problem lies in India.

Why PISA can be significant?

  • India lost out by boycotting PISA in 2012 and 2015, when Asian countries like China, South Korea and Singapore surged ahead.
  • It should be understood that PISA is not a contest.
  • It is a research exercise generating data which can be compared across borders.
  • Finishing last should be seen as an opportunity to improve teaching methods and school systems by intelligent comparison.
  • As result of this, International Standards can be adopted by Indian school boards for betterment.
  • It is also a reliable indicator of the future intellectual capital of participating countries.
  • It is a function of projected GDP, a reflection of the future wealth of nations.
  • A country hoping to win the global GDP race should regard PISA as a target.
  • The present government has done well to seek to return to PISA’s global testing system.
  • But the crucial reform still lies ahead.
  • PISA data must be used to improve the structural imbalance and the school system.

 

Source: Indian Express

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