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Thread: Pisa ranks Wales' education the worst in the UK

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    Default Pisa ranks Wales' education the worst in the UK

    Pisa ranks Wales' education the worst in the UK
    3 December 2013 Last updated at 16:58
    Wales has fallen behind the rest of the UK significantly in reading, maths and science for the third time, an international study has shown.

    The tests in science, maths, and reading were taken by 500,000 15-year-olds in 68 countries.

    In Wales, there were lower results on average in the three subjects than in England, Northern Ireland and Scotland.

    Scotland leads the way in the UK in maths and reading, while England is ahead in science.

    • In maths, Wales fell three places to 43rd of the 65 countries
    • In reading, the nation is now ranked at 41 down from 38
    • The biggest fall came in science where Wales dropped six places to joint 36th

    The figures, published by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), show that for maths, 15-year-olds in Wales scored 468 points on average, compared with 498 in Scotland, 495 in England and 487 in Northern Ireland.

    In reading, Wales scored 480, but Scotland scored 506 points on average, England scored 500 and Northern Ireland 498.

    In science, Wales scored 491, compared with England's average score of 516, Scotland's 513, and 507 in Northern Ireland.

    The OECD report concluded, for each of the three subjects, "performance in Wales was lower than the rest of the United Kingdom".

    It is the third time Pisa has conducted such tests.

    Since 2007, Wales has slipped down the Pisa rankings. As more countries have joined, it has slumped from 22nd in science to joint 36th, dropped 10 places in maths and fallen from 29th in reading to 41st.

    'Stark' results

    Speaking about this year's results, Education Minister Huw Lewis said the results were disappointing and showed Wales had a long way to go.

    But he insisted the news reinforced the Welsh government's case for the ambitious reforms it has already developed.

    "Everybody working in and around the Welsh education sector needs to take a long hard look in the mirror this week," he said.

    "The Pisa results are stark and the message is very clear, we must improve educational attainment and standards right across the board."

    Mr Lewis said new reading and numeracy tests, secondary school banding, extra funding for new schools would take time to have a "significant impact" in Wales.

    "There are no quick fixes," he said.

    "I expect to see the impact of our reforms reflected in the next set of results. They're ambitious and I believe they will have a lasting, sustainable and positive effect on education in Wales."

    Welsh Secretary David Jones urged Welsh ministers to "address these serious educational deficiencies and give the young aspirational people of Wales the skills they need to succeed".

    Angela Burns, Conservative shadow education minister in the assembly, said: "These truly appalling figures show Wales' educational performance has at best stagnated, and at worst declined, and that in educational terms, Labour ministers have wasted the past three years."

    Welsh Liberal Democrats leader Kirsty Williams tweeted: "Really sad and angry that 14 years of Welsh Labour Education Policy has led us to these #PISA results."

    Plaid Cymru's education spokesman Simon Thomas said the results were not good enough.

    "Wales cannot progress unless we get the basics right and that means meeting the challenge of improved numeracy, literacy and skills for all," he said.

    All the UK nations were beaten in all three subject areas by the Republic of Ireland, and by Finland, a country which many education experts in Wales have sought to learn from.

    'Wake-up call'

    Meanwhile the business group CBI Wales said the results gave cause for concern.

    Emma Watkins, CBI Wales director, said: "It's not acceptable for Wales to have slipped so far behind, and this should be a wake-up call to those who care about the future of the Welsh education system."

    But Chris Keates, general secretary of teaching union the NASUWT, said Pisa was not the be all and end all.

    "Pisa is not and must not be seen as the final word on education in Wales," he said.

    "It is critical the Welsh government puts the Pisa 2012 study into proportion, uses it to guide and not drive education policy and takes forward its work in a way that reflects the genuine progress and achievements of the education system."

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    Why does Wales struggle in relation to the rest of us? Never quite understood how.

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    Quote from the BBC. Scottish take on issue of PISA..
    ------------------------------------------------------
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-25216523

    Many within Scottish education play down the significance of the PISA rankings. They argue that the tests only cover very specific skills. In particular, they pay no attention to the concept of deeper learning and understanding - a vital concept in Scotland's Curriculum for Excellence. The thought is that deeper learning - truly understanding a subject rather than just giving a youngster facts and figures - equip them far better for the world of work or later study.

    Scottish teachers' unions and the General Teaching Council caution against reading too much into the PISA tables. And while opposition politicians may draw attention to the need for improvements, the radical changes in education in Scotland in recent years have enjoyed broad support across the political spectrum. Only the details and the practicalities have caused rows.

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    Default Pisa Rankings: MPs give their response to the findings on education in Wales

    PLAID CYMRU VIEW: Hywel Williams (Arfon)

    The latest Pisa results have rocked UK education in general and Welsh education in particular. No one country in the UK emerges from this international contest looking particularly good. We are all outside the top 20.

    But Wales fared worst, coming bottom of the class in all particulars. Some have been quick to blame Wales’ poor performance on our devolved system of government (for their own nefarious ends I fear).

    This is despite the fact that Scotland (also devolved) came in ahead of England in two of the three categories.

    Indeed Scotland’s relative success might suggest that it’s not devolution which is to blame, but rather who runs the devolved government.

    But all this speculation hardly does justice to the seriousness of long-term malaise afflicting Welsh education.

    Cai Larsen, in his excellent Blog Menai, suggests that the difficulties in Welsh education arise from the multitude of responsibilities now placed on our schools. He also says that (as usual) education changes in Wales have been pushed through too quickly, without detailed consideration, and in some ways are “afresymegol”– contrary to logic.

    I’d say that clearly there are multiple reasons for our poor performance, not just social deprivation, though I’d put it high on the list.

    I’d vote for better trained, respected and supported teachers, along with a child-centred approach, and that without the continual “one chance” testing that multiplies pressure on pupils and the obsession with private education which so disfigures education in England.


    LABOUR VIEW: Shadow Welsh Secretary Owen Smith (Pontypridd)

    THERE’S no doubt that the Pisa results are disappointing, but we must not allow the much-needed debate about the future of education in Wales to take anything away from the hard work and dedication shown by pupils, teachers, parents and governors across the country.

    The Welsh Government has acknowledged that these results are not good enough. Two years ago, the Welsh Government announced vital reforms to increase transparency in our school system, making it easier to identify underperformance and to challenge schools to improve their standards. They also introduced measures to increase intellectual rigour, concentrating on core skills in maths and English with new benchmark tests and enhanced GCSEs.

    Most importantly, they recognised the need to place teaching excellence and commitment at the heart of our system and became the first part of the UK to ask teachers to continue their training through a master’s degree or other professional qualification.

    This is an approach shown by the OECD to have led to significant improvements in other parts of the world. For example in Shanghai, which tops the Pisa list, all teachers must be qualified and must undertake 240 hours of professional development in the first five years. This is what we should aspire to, rather than the situation we see in England where the Tories and Lib Dems are watering down standards and allowing unqualified teachers to teach in state schools. Just a couple of weeks ago an academy in Leeds advertised for maths teachers, requiring just four GCSEs and no degree.

    This would not be acceptable in a state school under a Labour Government and is a dangerous experiment with children’s futures.

    The response of the Welsh Government to the Pisa results has been honest, serious and long-sighted, in contrast to the short-term, party-political points which UK Cabinet ministers sought to make. Using the education of Welsh pupils, striving for attainment in some of the most challenged and deprived communities of Britain, as a means to score points off the Labour party, is a cheap trick and I hope it will be seen for what it is by the Welsh people.


    LIBERAL DEMOCRAT VIEW: Mark Williams (Ceredigion)

    The Pisa results were hugely disappointing, and the lofty goal of being in the top 20 countries by 2015, although laudable, looks remote.

    Is it due to a demoralised teaching profession? Talking to former teaching colleagues, it is clear to me how low morale is. Tory talk of allowing untrained professionals to take up the reins in the classroom does little to help that.

    Is it the funding differentials across Offa’s Dyke, which should not be lost on any of us? A 4.4% increase in English funding, against a 1.5% cut in Wales – £604 per child less in Wales than England.

    That inevitably has an impact on funding, not mitigated nor should it be by the excellent Pupil Deprivation Grant.

    Is it due to a narrow or unresponsive curriculum? But who should we be responding to – the needs of industry, our economy, or individual enablement and creativity – or a compromise between the two?

    Or are the results due to the loss of SATs and legal tables, inadequate leadership in schools, or the narrowness of the Pisa test themselves?

    Or, is it the pioneering Foundation Stage, or has its purity been diluted by assorted government initiatives.

    The reasons are indeed multifaceted, but this debate must not become a blame game. The stakes are too high.

    Politicians should resist the temptations of past political mistakes. League tables, far from simply promoting parental choice, also created two tiers of schools. SATs, and the pressure to ensure all 11-year-olds reach level five, inevitably meant teaching to exams rather than children’s needs, only to see those children fail further down the line as young people grappled with the “missing years” as a Year 6 primary curriculum was replicated in Year 7 and 8 in Secondary school.

    As a teacher I argued my corner for a wide and broad curriculum. I enjoyed diversity, and so did my class. But we clearly need a renewed focus on numeracy, reading and science.

    This, along with inspirational teaching (adequately trained), opportunities for in-service training, modern resources, and yes vigour, backed by ambitious goals with teacher-led assessments.

    The beauty of the Pupil Deprivation Grant means that schools can target their extra resources. We need a more individualised approach to learning.

    Twenty-five years ago my party made a much ridiculed commitment to reduce class sizes.

    We should again pledge ourselves to that goal. I myself once taught in a class of 36 with seven SEN children. Meanwhile, in Ceredigion and other rural areas, we talk of shutting schools with too many empty places (based on stipulations from the Assembly).

    Reducing class size, enhancing interactions between teacher and child, focused work in the core subjects, and meaningful individual learning programmes – in this environment we can discover that standards which are eluding us, and give primary school children the grounding needed for secondary education.


    CONSERVATIVE VIEW: Glyn Davies (Montgomeryshire)

    WE ARE being outperformed by all the home nations in maths, reading and science. While I have no wish to turn these results into a political issue, the Welsh Government cannot escape responsibility. The reality is that, compared with much of the world, all UK nations are performing poorly. It’s just that the Welsh performance is much the worst.

    Combined with last year’s relaxation in examination standards, the Pisa tables inevitably impact (very unfairly) on confidence among employers and universities in the abilities of Welsh students. I have been encouraged by the response of Welsh Government Education Minister to these results. He has accepted that perhaps the eye was taken off the ball in the first decade of devolved government.

    It’s a recognition that creates opportunity for improvement.

    In England, Michael Gove has driven much controversial change, building of reforms started by the Tony Blair government.

    It has involved challenging the cosy complacency of the educational establishment. Gove is a very determined politician and I feel confident he will deliver results.

    In Wales we have had four previous Education Ministers, Jane Hutt, Jane Davidson, Carwyn Jones and Leighton Andrews.

    It was only the latter who seemed willing to challenge the cosy consensus. Welsh students desperately need Huw Lewis to adopt the Leighton Andrews commitment to reform, combined with a willingness to work with Michael Gove. Blaming socio-economic disadvantage is not good enough.

    The Welsh Government has been responsible for education for 14 years, and the results so far are not good enough.

    The Pisa results are a report which says “Could do much better”. It’s up to Huw Lewis to deliver.

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