An agreement has been signed by HRD ministry with Organization for Economic Cooperation Development (OECD) to confirm the participation of India in the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) for the year 2021.
“This will lead to enhancement in learning levels of children and accentuate the country’s education quality. The OECD has agreed to ask some questions based on Indian context. I am confident that our students will perform well,” said Prakash Javadekar, HRD minister.
What is PISA?
As quoted by Wikipedia, PISA is a worldwide study by the OECD to measure 15-year-old school pupils’ scholastic performance on mathematics, science, and reading.
It was first performed in 2000 and then repeated every three years. Its aim is to provide comparable data with a view to enabling countries to improve their education policies and outcomes. It measures problem solving and cognition.
Method of Testing
Each student takes a two-hour handwritten test. Part of the test is multiple-choice and part involves fuller answers.
The cognitive test is followed by spending nearly one more hour answering a questionnaire on their background including learning habits, motivation, and family.
However, in selective countries, the test is also taken on computers.
Why does India’s participation matter, now?
The news is prominent now because the country had decided to stay out of the competition in 2012 and 2015 owing to its poor performance in 2009 test where it secured 72nd place among the 74 other participating countries.
A committee was later set-up under Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan to look-into the decision. As per a report submitted in Dec 2016 and similar set of recommendations in 2017 by education secretaries, the reports suggested the participation of the country.