House laments poor learning outcomes in state schools

The results of the most recent Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) and the need for policies to improve learning outcomes were at the centre of a discussion at the House education committee on Wednesday. “Six out of ten students do not understand what they read and this is frightening,” said education committee chairman and Diko MP Chrysanthos Savvides. During the discussion, the MPs expressed strong concern over the performance of students, arguing that the results reflected weaknesses in the education system and called for immediate changes. The recent Pisa results, published at the beginning of September, found that 53 per cent of students lack basic skills in mathematics, while another 62 per cent ranked below the basic level in reading comprehension. Problems in maths “The percentage of our students who face problems in Mathematics is 11 out of 20,” Savvides said. He highlighted that the corresponding equivalent in Europe stood at seven out of twenty and underlined that the results were a cause for concern which must inform future decisions. Commenting on the data, deputy director of secondary general education, Giorgos Koutsidis, stressed that the Pisa assessment did not capture a full picture. “The results give cause for concern as to whether children are provided with the opportunities to acquire the necessary skills,” he said. He said that a similar downward trend had been recorded in other countries, but this did not diminish the responsibility of the education ministry and the schools. New technologies Koutsidis added that subjects such as robotics, new technologies and artificial intelligence were currently being incorporated into the education system, while at the same time, international best practices were being examined and spoke of plans to exchange education materials with Greece. According to Koutsidis, a three-year plan is currently being drawn up for secondary education, which will come into effect from January 2027, focusing on reading comprehension, mathematics and natural sciences, drawing on material from Pisa. He said that the plan will be implemented on a pilot basis in the second year of high school during the ongoing school year, with an evaluation of the material set to follow in the third year of high school and the introduction of complex tasks scheduled for the first year of high school. Meanwhile, representative from the deputy ministry of research, Elena Gavriil, noted that a total of €14 million has been allocated for the digital transformation in education. University of Cyprus representative, Lefteris Clerides, described the results as an indicator of the public education system and called for the implementation of new policies for its improvement. In this context, the University of Nicosia representative said that the discussion should not be limited to only the analysis of the results alone, underlining the need for a systematic evaluation of the interventions implemented in the education system. “If all these years we do not evaluate what works and what does not, we are going blind,” she said. Frederick University spokesperson Niklia Eteocleous called for substantial improvements to be implemented through collaboration with other bodies, emphasising that universities could contribute to the upgrading and training of teachers. The MPs are expected to continue with a discussion at a later date.