IDB Summit: Three out of four adolescents in Latin America lack basic mathematical skills idb summit

They describe it as a “deep learning crisis in Latin America and the Caribbean.” The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the World Bank (WB) analyzed the results of the PISA report in a joint publication and found that the pandemic has had a negative impact on education in the region, so most students by the age of 15 have lost the basic skills they need. Have not achieved what they need.

The Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), an initiative of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), measures what 15-year-old students around the world know and can do. The triennial test, which began in 2000, measures not only whether students can repeat what they have learned, but also how well they can apply their knowledge to unfamiliar environments inside and outside of school. This week, within the framework of the IDB’s annual meeting in the Dominican Republic, the organization presented the report Learning can’t wait: lessons for Latin America and the Caribbean from PISA 2022 In collaboration with the World Bank.

The authors found that three out of four 15-year-olds in the area are unable to demonstrate basic-level math skills, and more than half are unable to demonstrate basic reading proficiency. “There is a deep learning crisis as the majority of 15-year-olds have not acquired the basic skills they need,” the 76-page report said. Furthermore, educational opportunities are highly unequal, experts said in the report.

“Learning trends are not moving in the right direction, and countries in the region need to address disparities in performance and equity, and devote more resources to using technology as an educational tool,” he said. Is required.” To raise educational levels in the region, the authors describe it as “urgent” to intervene at the secondary level to prioritize the recovery of learning losses and the accelerated acquisition of foundational skills in mathematics. Although countries in the region achieved somewhat better results in reading and science than in mathematics, half of the students in LAC countries continued to lag in these subjects as well. “The evidence suggests that teaching and learning interventions at appropriate levels, possibly using technology tools applied to education, can help,” he says.

On average, OECD countries, which include the world’s largest economies, invest three times more per student during their educational career than Latin American countries: $102,612 versus $36,972 per student. “However, what matters is not just the amount of investment but also how the money is spent. The report published on Monday said that in all LAC countries that have data, performance in mathematics is lower than predicted by the level of investment.

The IDB and the World Bank also recommend focusing on support, as certain groups of students require specific support to improve. In most Latin American countries, the poorest students are more likely to perform poorly, and this ratio remains unchanged after the pandemic. “Providing the poorest students with more flexible learning opportunities, access to the Internet and digital tools, and psychosocial support can help accelerate their learning,” the report said.

The third recommendation in the report is to invest in the recovery of reading and mathematics learning for primary students, as they were most severely affected by the pandemic. For primary students, governments should also promote programs or public policies that reduce school dropout and repetition, especially when it comes to male students, as they are more likely than females to drop out of school or repeat the year. Is. “Early warning systems have shown positive results in some contexts in the field, and can help to identify at-risk students and support them with interventions tailored to their needs,” the report said.

The report’s authors found that principals of public and poor schools are twice as likely to report a lack of access to digital resources and tools than principals of private and wealthy schools.

The 2022 round of PISA is the first international assessment of learning after the pandemic, so it offers a picture of how students were learning during school closures. A total of 14 Latin American countries participated in 2022, a record for the region.