Why in news?
Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry has decided to participate in Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) after a gap of 10 years.
What is the origin and purpose of PISA?
- PISA was first administered in 2000.
- It is an international Survey conducted every three years (triennial).
- It is coordinated by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
- It assesses the quality of education systems across the world by evaluating students in science, mathematics and reading.
- It is a 2-hour computer-based test that focuses on 15-year-old students.
- This particular age group is selected as they have either completed or are near the end of their compulsory education in most countries.
- PISA requires the examinees to have finished at least six years of formal schooling.
- About 5.5 lakh students in 72 countries, which together make up nine-tenths of the world economy, took the test in 2015.
How does the program evaluate students?
- PISA is a competency-based test designed to assess the ability of the candidates to apply their knowledge to real-life situations.
- It does not test a student’s memory and curriculum-based knowledge.
- PISA’s science test, , measures three competencies —
- Ability to explain scientific phenomena
- Scientific interpretation of data and evidence
- Ability to design and evaluate scientific query.
- Similarly, PISA defines reading as an individual’s capacity to understand, use and reflect on written information in a range of situations.
What is the criticism about the test?
- Academicians have expressed concerns over the impact of PISA rankings.
- Detractors feel PISA has contributed to an obsession with standardized testing relying heavily on quantitative measures.
- America’s ‘Race to the Top’ program is often cited as an example in this context as it uses standardized testing for evaluating students, teachers and administrators.
- The triennial survey has also been criticized for shifting focus from long-term and enduring solutions to temporary measures.
- Ad-hoc measures are being increasingly adopted by countries to improve their ranking.
- OECD responded that there is no evidence to suggest PISA or any other educational comparison has caused a shift to short-term fixes.
- In fact, according to OECD, it has created opportunities for policy-makers and stakeholders to collaborate across borders.
Why was India out of it for 10 years?
- The country participated in 2009 test with 16,000 students from 400 schools in Himachal Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
- India was placed 72nd among the 74 participating countries.
- The then UPA government blamed “out of context” questions for the poor show.
- Also it chose not to participate in the 2012 and 2015 cycles.
- Till date, India has participated only once in PISA-2009.
What is the recent development?
- Under the NDA government, the HRD Ministry first revisited this decision in 2016.
- The Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan set up a committee to review the matter and its report recommended that the country participate in the 2018 test cycle.
- A similar recommendation was made in 2017 by the group of secretaries on education constituted by Prime Minister.
- Recently, HRD Minister formally approved the decision to participate in the 2021 cycle of PISA.
- The government will request OECD to administer the test across all schools in Chandigarh in 2021.
- Chandigarh was selected for three reasons.
- Compact area.
- To keep number of languages in which the test has to be administered to a minimum and
- Chandigarh’s record of performing well in learning assessments.
Source: The Indian Express