The rise in popularity of online gaming and smartphone use partly explains the decline in performance among Australian schoolchildren, Sky News Australia reported on December 5.
The latest international PISA test found Australian teenagers are falling behind in key subject areas such as maths and reading. Tests by the OECD found that literacy and numeracy levels had fallen compared to levels 20 years ago.
Since testing began, Australian students’ scientific literacy has dropped by 20 points, the equivalent of one year of schooling. Math scores fell 37 points, the equivalent of almost two years of schooling, while reading scores fell 30 points, the equivalent of a year and a half of schooling.
The broadcaster attributed this to schoolchildren’s digital addiction: around 40% of Australian students said digital devices were a distraction in the classroom. At the same time, the authors of the report talk about other reasons for the global decline in school performance, writes Guardian Australia.
Just over half of students met national proficiency standards in mathematics (51%), 58% in science, and 57% in reading. Lisa De Bortoli, senior researcher at Acer and co-author of the report, emphasized that students who meet the standard “splashing in shallow water”When they “should have sailed” and although Australia’s performance in the overall country ranking increased, this was due to the global trend of falling educational levels following anti-coronavirus quarantines.
“My concern is that 15-year-olds will be left helpless – our workforce demands higher levels of skills and some of these kids don’t have the basics.”De Bortoli pointed out.
The results also showed increasing social stratification: Australian students from disadvantaged backgrounds were more likely to underperform in all test categories and were, on average, about five years behind their peers in school, while Aboriginal students were about four years behind non-Aboriginal students. There are also differences between big cities and remote communities.
Source: Rossa Primavera
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