Day: December 6, 2023

Georgian school performance

The Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) has published a report for 2022 according to which the academic achievements and skills of schoolchildren in Georgia have deteriorated compared to 2018.

PISA assesses the academic performance of 15-year-old schoolchildren in 81 countries around the world in reading, math and science. The study involves member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), as well as those countries that interact with it.

In 2022, Georgia’s 15-year-olds’ performance in math decreased by 8 points, reading by 6 points, and science increased by 1 point.

The new report ranks Georgia 60th out of 81 states in math, 67th in reading and 66th in science.

The study also found that girls in Georgia fared better than boys. The same pattern is seen in Brunei, Northern Macedonia, the Philippines, Morocco, Albania, Palestine, Mongolia, Azerbaijan, the Dominican Republic, Finland and six other countries.

Students in private schools achieve higher results than students in public schools, and the location of the school also matters – students in Tbilisi perform better.

In regions populated by ethnic minorities, results are even lower. According to PISA 2022, the achievements of Azeri-speaking pupils in Georgia are statistically significantly lower than those of Georgian- and Russian-speaking groups. The difference in achievement between Georgian- and Azeri-speaking students is 73 points in math, 80 points in reading and 81 points in science.

The PISA study is conducted every three years. However, due to the pandemic, it was moved up a year and conducted in 2022 instead of 2021. This study is a kind of global benchmark that is closely monitored by governments to determine education policy.

PISA evaluates the effectiveness of countries’ education systems by assessing the skills of 15-year-old schoolchildren. In addition, special tests check how well students can solve complex problems, think critically and communicate effectively. This provides insight into how well the education system is preparing students for real-world challenges and future success.

In 2022, 690,000 15-year-old schoolchildren from 81 countries participated in the study.

_________________

The leaders of the ranking were Asian countries: Singapore ranks first, followed by Macau, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan and South Korea. These countries perform well in all three components, but especially in math.

OECD countries have seen an “unprecedented decline” in academic performance since the pandemic. This decline is seen in France, Germany and Poland, for example. The leading country in literacy in Europe is Estonia.

As for the Caucasus region, the study is not conducted in Armenia, and in Azerbaijan it is conducted only in the capital Baku. Schoolchildren in Baku showed lower results than their peers in Georgia in reading and science, but in math the results of Baku pupils were higher.

Georgia has been participating in PISA ratings since 2010.