Do our teeth become cleaner and cleaner the longer and harder we brush them? This was followed by two small paragraphs on how to brush your teeth quoting an expert on tooth brushing.
Only 53 per cent students from Himachal Pradesh and 63 per cent from Tamil Nadu were able to answer correctly during the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2009 plus exams held last year by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) where India participated for the first time as an additional participant. Himachal Pradesh and Tamil Nadu are among the best performing States in the country but even then very few 15-year-olds could fully understand these two simple paragraphs.
This was an example of a simple reading item administered in PISA 2009 where girls significantly outperformed boys. This was in line with the results where Indian students remained at the bottom with only Kyrgyztan performing worse.
But in a comparison between the two States, students in Tamil Nadu attained an average score on the PISA reading literacy scale, significantly higher than those for Himachal Pradesh. As against 17 per cent of students in Tamil Nadu who had proficiency in reading literacy to participate effectively and productively in life, only 11 per cent children in Himachal Pradesh fell in this category
Students in Himachal Pradesh and Tamil Nadu attained a statistically same average score on the mathematical literacy scale with 12 and 15 per cent respectively of students proficient in mathematics at least to the baseline level at which they begin to demonstrate the kind of skills that enable them to use mathematics in ways that are considered fundamental for their future development.
In Tamil Nadu, there was a statistically significant gender difference in scientific literacy in favour of girls as compared to Himachal Pradesh, even though 84 per cent students in Tamil Nadu were not proficient enough in science at which they begin to demonstrate the science competencies that would enable them to participate actively in life situations related to science and technology.
“Girls not only tended to attain higher reading scores than boys, they were also more aware of strategies for understanding, remembering and summarising information,” according to Professor Geoff Masters, CEO of ACER.
The OECD-PISA is an international comparative survey of 15-year-olds' knowledge and skills in reading, mathematical and scientific literacy. PISA seeks to measure how well young adults have acquired the knowledge and skills that are required to function as successful members of society.
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.
Background questionnaire
As part of the PISA 2009 survey, students completed an assessment on reading literacy, mathematical literacy and scientific literacy, as well as an extensive background questionnaire. School principals also completed a survey describing the context of education at their school, including the level of resources in the school and qualifications of staff.
School level factors
“Students, who are highly aware of effective strategies for learning and also regularly read a wide range of material, tend to demonstrate better reading proficiency than those who either have a lower awareness of effective strategies or read a narrower range of materials regularly.” Professor Masters said, adding that while school level factors account for a considerable proportion of variation in reading performance between schools, much of this is associated with socio—economic and demographic factors.
“This suggests that policies around governance, accountability, the investment of educational resources and the overall learning environment are influenced by the social and demographic intake of the school,” Professor Masters said.
Thomas Macaulay, in his address to British Parliament on February 2, 1835, revealed India’s moral and cultural status and how he wanted to change it. He said: “I have travelled across the length and breadth of India and have not seen one person who is a beggar, who is a thief. Such wealth I have seen in this country, such high moral values. People of such calibre that I never think we would ever conquer this country, unless we break the very backbone of this nation, which is her spiritual and cultural heritage and, therefore, I propose that we replace her old and ancient education system, her culture, for if the Indians think that all that is foreign and English is good and greater than their own, they will lose their self esteem, their native culture and they will become what we want them.”
There is nothing for us to be ashamed about. This is a valuable learning point if only we stop blaming and are ready for course corrections. PISA tests how 15 year olds fare in “applying their Math, Reading & Comprehension and Science education” to real life situations. If students can understand and remember the CONCEPTS/UNDERLYING BASIC PRINCIPLES and THINK, they can do well in the exam. I have gone through the sample questions in all sections and am sure that a 15 year old can answer the questions, only if he/she understood the basic principles. True, our system has only “open ended questions” which confer marks and titles on students who “vomit” from memory. Did the student have to THINK about the solution? May be. May be NOT. Still, our system is not entirely wrong. We should tune our system to blend a)Multiple Choice questions that ignite thinking and b)Open ended questions allowing free form answers. If we don't change, we will remain as LITERATES and not become EDUCATED.
In my opinion the root cause is 1) there will be some 40 or more
students in a class and the teacher cannot give personal attention to
every student and 2) the caliber of the teachers is not what it should be. The teacher will write something on the black board and ask the students to copy or dictate answer to stock questions for a lesson taught and ask the students to learn it by heart and write in the answer paper is the general way of teaching. The student is encouraged to learn something by heart and if the student write it without any mistake in the answer paper he gets full mark. Actually he or she is getting full marks for his memory power. Student is never encouraged to think for himself and answer. Quality of teachers are poor as it is one the last choice for a graduate. If he cannot make it to be a software engineer or something like that he joins a school. They are hardly dedicated to the profession which is must for a good teacher. If the remuneration is bettered probably
No wonder with the current education system India boasts. There is a fundamental flaw in our education system which encourages only memorizing something and reproducing the same on answer sheets including punctuation marks. We need to reform the primary and secondary education first to teach the ability to read, understand and ask questions.
I am sure the students who participated from TN would have been drawn from so called TOP schools which extort money and bully parents. Doesn't matter who writes the text books, the current system is not going to equip the children with skills that they need for life.
Let's get rid of the illusion that Indians are fundamentally highly intelligent. Completely to the contrary, we are taught and trained to be smart, even cunning, to get ahead, because of competition and corruption. We are never trained to be intelligent. No intelligent country will rank 119 on the Human Development Index, while having a growth rate of close to 8%. India is the producer of quantity in all aspects, not quality. Even the highly acclaimed software companies of India produce low quality work, not the cutting edge path breaking work. Why do we call in foreign help for very domestic projects like cleaning up the Ganges? Because we have no idea how to approach even a slightly new problem. Will an intelligent people have to suffer such shortcomings?
It's a challenge to all the educationists. In India much emphasis is laid on making money rether than providing purposeful education. The students are exposed to rott learning & memorising rather than understanding the concept & the practical application of the same. China is focissing on technology & education as well. The need of the hour is to arise awake & reform the education & transform the life.
Very controversial article.You can not compare apple snd oranges.Both have different make up in different enviornment.Also such test is not the criteria to qualify our education sysrem.Ultimate result of the performance of students in the real world is to be judged by their success in so called western countries.In America,in any spell contest,Indian students are always shining.So also at places like NASA and American Govt.positions Indian students shines.It is true we lack in general knowledge due to facilities such as shortage of computers,libraries,community centers etc,those must be given priorities especially in villages.That process is on and in due course Indian students will shine any test.They do have basic intelligent calibre if not general knowledge or knowledge of English language.
The study makes some interesting points and some points that are irrelevant in the Indian context. 1. In India, accounting for the demographic and language baises, it would be very useful to develop tests of this nature on our own to assess our children's reading and math abilities. Doing this on a sustained basis across the entire population will certainly help understand the shortcomings of our education system. 2. I do not think we need to pay particular attention to the specific test results (as many before have commented, the population, demographics, language administered etc is not stated in the report which makes the study somewhat misleading for the Indian context). A kid in Shanghai (urban) should probably be compared with a kid in Chennai or Delhi. The results may then be more relevant.3. Instead of just dismissing or embracing such studies, it would be far more productive to learn from such studies to see what works in the Indian context
This is the report I was foreseeing for a long time. Thanks to the Hindu for bringing this out.
Everyone seems very concerned about the issue of the test being administered in English or not, yet the test is administered in the language of instruction. The list of top scoring countries is largely made up of non-English speaking countries, so clearly English proficiency is not the issue unless English is the medium of instruction. Singapore is a good comparison; it is a country in which English is the mandated language of instruction, even though very few children speak it at home as their first language. And yet, Singapore regularly scores at or near the top of these exams.
"STRATEGIES FOR UNDERSTANDING, REMEMBERING AND SUMMARISING
INFORMATION"
This single comment is enough for judging the validity of this test. A
truly efficient education system should reflect in how well a person
can come up with ideas and solutions to existing problems; not how to
come up with strategies to transfer information from one paper to
another. This is true not only in India but most of the countries,
developed or otherwise. Let us stop cribbing about the system and try
to think of ways to change it. Hope 'The Hindu' takes up a chain of
articles that focuses on what needs to be done and not on only what's
wrong everywhere.
Perhaps this explains why so many Tamils fall into the habit of hero-worship. Rajnikanth, Karunanidhi, Jayalalitha and of course MGR are more important than their own families. Any gesture by Rajnikanth is hailed as legendary! Going to school and securing 99% in the tests is hardly a reflection of one's abilities. Facing life's challenges is a different ball game. As our youth are finding out every day.
What Indians don't understand is that marks taken is not equal to knowledge gained. And the reason for not understanding this simple concept is rote memorization, dogma and hypocrisy.
These same kids grow up and make movies ! No wonder all our movies are based on the same story ! No creativity at all. When will we produce Avatar, Juraissic Park, Star wars etc., All we get is same crap with a slight twist in plot ! We need to challenge our kids to think for themselves and not just do momory learning.
I think I am in a better position to comment than most people who have >commented on this topic because I have studied in India and Australia and I can see the difference. The reason India performed poorly is because we never focus on THINKING. Everything is SPOON FEED to the students. In Australia and most western nations, the PRINCIPLES to solve the solution are thought to the students, so that the students can solve any problem. Whereas in India, the solutions to each and very problem are thought to the students! This is ridiculous. You cannot learn the solution to each and every problem. What if you face a new problem that you do not have a solution to? Summary:
Indians are good at rote learning, memorizing things and regurgitating theory. Good at repetitive tasks that does not require problem solving.Westerners are good at critical thinking, developing unique out-of-the box solutions and new research. Also good at discovering and inventing new technologies.India can improve!
Each year, out of the more than 1 or 2 lac students? who graduate from Indian High Schools, only 15 to 20,000 may be considered as the cream of the crop. As long as the BEST BRAINS in the country are making a beeline to IITs and Med Schools, there is no way on earth, the second or third rate quality students and the muck of India can hardly make any dent in the scientist lacuna of the country, unless they are clever enough to follow the path charted out by some good scientists of Indian origin who go to America or UK to escape the ennui and drudgery of getting a degree in Chemistry or Physics from an Indian college, where almost ALL professors teach these important subjects at a dismally low level, compared with other nations such Singapore and China etc.. In America, I have taught a few students from the so-called prestigious Doon School in Dehra Dun, and found them just as dumb as the kids from an ordinary school, except the DS dandy can be snooty and haughty, to boot.
It is a good STORY so long as it is read likewise. It's a cliche nowadays that India's education system needs to be reviewed thoroughly, I am in complete agreement with it but that should be done entirely from Indian perspective. I quite doubt whether the Australian system is apt for assessment of our students. The only thing that I personally liked about >it is the performance of our girls. They are getting their opportunity or rather I would say their rightful opportunity and they are coming out with flying colours. This should be highlighted.
Simply blame it on "cut and paste habit".The dwindling habit of reading is the real culprit.Everyting is available in our finger tips.Now the global library is a clic away.If our new generation need to read some thing,there are only two options 1.Either the topic should be included in the syllabus or 2.When it is likely that the topic can appear in the entrance examination.To add fuel to the fire we have the spelling-less, grammer-less senseless sms culture-the field our youth are found active.The saying goes language is like a sharpe edged knife,once you use it it will shine ,discard it it will rust.Parents need to take the vital role.Reading habit should be instilled from child hood.Let their young ones read some thing which will have no reflection on their exams.But do understand that students with ardant reading habits will always out way the cut and paste group .Need not be in terms of marks but as owners of better personalities who can present things the way they think.
Each and every individual is to be blamed. Starting from "us" to the
"government" everyone is to be blamed. We as an individual should
realize the value of "Quality Education". We should mold our kids in a way that they should "understand" the concepts rather than mug them. We as parents are to be blamed because we tell our kids to merely learn the concepts from the day they start their education.There are a very few parents who tell their children to understand the concepts. There are Some parents who feel that just by telling their children to understand concepts their job is done. But do they even make an effort to tell their children as to how this can be done?
At the next level the educational institutions are to be blamed as they aren't appointing dedicated teachers. They are merely filling up the posts of teachers so that they can be proud of the teacher-student
ratio they possess.
Then the teachers are to be blamed, as they come to school or college
just to collect their salary packet. There are only a very few
"dedicated teachers" left in our country who "Love" to teach. In this
age the shloka "Guru Brahma" is not applicable for most of the
teachers.
Matured students should understand that if their
parent/institution/teachers are teaching them wrong methods of
learning concepts then they should realize that this type of education
is not going to help them. If they want themselves to become real
educated individuals then they should mold themselves. They should go
to the library, read books, watch educational videos, prepare their
own notes and understand concepts. This will make them complete
educated individual. One important thing for those who want to do
something in life and show the world that they can do great things is
that they should do what they like to do. they should pursue their
education in the field they like and not what their parents or
teachers want them to do.
Last but not the least the government is to be blamed. Every year the
quality of education is coming down instead of going up. There are new
Universities coming up which do not even deserve a university status.
I wonder, how does it even matter to them? Most of the politicians are
sending their children abroad for higher education, so how does it
even matter to them as to what king of education is being delivered to
the students who are going to the builders of our nation? There are
few others who with their influence provide all the"necessary
facilities" to their children to become doctors and engineers.
I have said so many things because today I realize where I stand in
this highly competitive world. I have no fear in telling that the kind
of education that was given to me has ruined me and my life. Today I
stand no where in this crowd. When I thought I was matured, it was too
late. Today I have nothing, except depression and stress. I am living
my life on pills given by my psychiatrist. I am just 22 and I am
literate but not educated.
Is this fair to judge indian students on basis of a paragraph written in a language(english) different from their mother tongue and that too in comparision to students who are having their mother tongue as english. They should have a generic way of assessing childrens' reading understanding skills which is as much language neutral as possible.
Point of reference being the English reading/ understanding, in my view, the expectation from the non-native speakers of this Language at 1-14yrs of age shall not be globally competitive ranking with native speaking/ adopted population. Let us not let down our young children with bright ideas/ dreams and other skills against English; in any case it is going to loose its glory in the near future. I wish our large young population will survive in our motherland without the fancy needs but simple connective uncorrected stuff. Hence, my request to the author is Not to paint a gloomy picture for the Country on this count for a healthy attitude.
This article does not mention whether the tests were conducted in English or in Tamil as well as Hindi. The linguistic component is not insignificant to performance, especially at this level.
The fact that this test did not evaluate separately the students in the English medium schools and the Tamil medium school, and did not offer the reading tests in the corresponding languages is a good illustration that ACER staff are completely illiterate. Had they suggested that the teachers of English in Tamil Nadu schools should take the Cambridge University's CPE examinations, the teachers would go on strike and protest. If students don't have any good Tamil books to study maths or science in their mother tongue, who is to blame?
Who were the people who were employed to created the tests for Tamil Nadu students? Perhaps, ACER made wrong choices by employing some Chinese professors to develop the tests for the Indian students. Wikipedia mentions that "It has been suggested that the Finnish language plays an important part in Finland's PISA success". Further, we learn that their "methods used for teaching mother tongue are solid". People at ACER are so uneducated that they don't know how many Tamil students can speak, read and write very well in English but can't do it in their mother tongue. The PISA tests are irrelevant in India, and we know it very well.
United Kingdom scored 494 and Korea scored 539 "On the overall reading scale" in 2009. To say that Koreans have much higher "proficiency in reading literacy to participate effectively and productively in life" in the UK would be a big joke. Perhaps, the imbeciles who developed PISA can't explain why and how the absolute majority of the Tamilian students manage to participate so effectively and productively in life in Tamil Nadu despite the low PISA scores! The test is a joke.
When we read that "17 per cent of students in Tamil Nadu who had proficiency in reading literacy to participate effectively and productively in life", we should ask what is the Australian educators' definition of "participating effectively and productively in life". In life where? In Australia? We all know that different designs of the reading tests will yield vastly different outcomes. Why not compare the PISA outcomes with the British tests'? After all, the British assert that the Australians can't speak or read English!
"Himachal Pradesh and Tamil Nadu are among the best performing States in the country but even then very few 15-year-olds could fully understand these two simple paragraphs." - This article. Nice to see TN students are at the very top among Indian students. But the overall quality seems NOT at par. "This suggests that policies around governance, accountability, the investment of educational resources and the overall learning environment are influenced by the social and demographic intake of the school,"Professor Masters said.
I agree. Do our policy makers hear this?
The website of PISA is www.pisa.oecd.org. I took the test. To give an example, how will you find the area of an irregular object say a leaf? Indian students may not be used to this format of multiple choice questioning, the manner in which the questions are framed and the practice of quick thinking. The education system has a long way to go if we want to encourage students to think critically. Could the answer be: Trace the leaf on a graph paper, count the full squares, Use simple math for 3/4, 1/2 and 1/4 squares and add them to full squares to calculate area of one side of the leaf.
It shows the bare truth of our actual position.We only boast more than perform and surely we are not sincere in anything.We learn more to compromise than genuinely compete. Only our political leaders shall do something to change our basic mentality.Most learning centers are run on policies and egos and commercially not helping the students learn practically and scientifically. Not knowing the basics of just brushing the teeth is really concerning and serious!
Girls outperformed guys. Maybe this report will encourage the male dominated industries, especially the corporate sectors, to give the sexes an equal footing?
As Indians are having other mother tongue, its seems students,from the primary to higher levels Education , must be trained in Spoken English also particularly in pronunciation, such letters as 'Z'. There may be different accent also being the main reason for the defects reported.
Main problem with students is that they use regional language in communicating and study English to score marks in exam. Some carry on with regional education pattern. Board should be a centralised. As far as mathematics is concerned it will cherish only when style of teaching will changed.
I think the test was biased towards native English speakers and a certain style of teaching. Case to point, the schooling pattern in Australia is in synch with such testing while Indians have a different style of teaching. I bet the results would have been vastly different if Indian students had been coached and taught how to approach and think in a way that would be in line with the testing approach. The logic behind this statement is straightforward; 15 year old (apparent) 'duds' cannot become world beaters by the time they are in college (if it were not for innate intelligence).
That a country where the cutoff for entry into institutions of higher learning is close to 100% fared so poorly in PISA should have been highlighted more strongly than the global gender-bias. Our education is strongly oriented to rote-learning of facts and specific processes, with little emphasis on self-assured opinion formation and linguistic skills to communicate, that the products of the system fare poorly in PISA - a system that tests learning abilities, judgement and other broad skills that are required in daily life. The PISA results show that broad reading habits and social interactivity lead to better scores - whereas even our better schools are strongly curriculum oriented and discourage argumentative discourse. Enthusiasm and drive soon perish in the fore-knowledge that a bout of study and tutorials before the key exams would suffice. The problem is that those who slip at the crucial hurdle can never recover and those who succeed often become robots - a sad social outcome.
(In my point of view)Something fundamentally wrong with our indian educational system. Our educational system is more theory oriented rather than practical and experimental.
It shows how much more we need to improve our education system. Acquired reading skills helps the most important the young to learn further. In the name of education what is happening for a long time in India is propagation of vested interests like religion, glorifying the image of personalities in politics so that the party can claim ownership of India. There need to be more such evaluations and our children should be allowed to participate in international competitions. Only then the true standard of our education will be revealed. We need to improve the education system as a whole and govt should consider it as its prime duty to impart quality education. Govt should focus more on Defence, education, healthcare, job creation. The rest will fall in place once these are done well.
Rote learning and scoring even 99 in language subjects, all to get into an Engineering college and get an IT job - that is the quality of our education. Results of this test should be no surprise.
Our education system in India is very poor. It is true that we have highly intelligent boys and girls, but unfortunately their percentage is very low. We don't help many of our above average students to improve further and acquire new heights. Considering boys and girls in other Asian countries such as, Singapore and South Korea we are far behind. Some of our States don't pay much attention in improving education. In the so called highly literate State, Kerala quality of education is deplorably poor. There politics takes much time particularly at the college level. Are we training boys and girls to become politicians or good academicians?
While this report raises several concerns, I was disappointed that the author has not disclosed or not researched several important factors: What were the actual demographics of students who took the test- urban or rural background? Was the test administered in English or native mother tongue? What were the GPAs (and other capabilities) of the cohort who took the test? Without analyzing these factors, it is not fair to generalize the findings of the study. The lack of basic caution is shocking and I am disappointed that The Hindu has also given preference to eye catching titles that ignore rigor.
While this report raises several concerns, I was disappointed that the author has not disclosed or not researched several important factors: What were the actual demographics of students who took the test- urban or rural background? Was the test administered in English or native mother tongue? What were the GPAs (and other capabilities) of the cohort who took the test? Without analyzing these factors, it is not fair to generalize the findings of the study. The lack of basic caution is shocking and I am disappointed that The Hindu has also given preference to eye catching titles that ignore rigor.
It's good that country has been shown mirror, we have just top 1% good students in all level and domains who can compete with and perform better than top 1% of other countries but when average student is compared with average student of other countries, this is where we stand. Shame on Us !!
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