Mostrando entradas con la etiqueta World Bank. Mostrar todas las entradas
Mostrando entradas con la etiqueta World Bank. Mostrar todas las entradas

On «basic education» and «basic learning needs»

Silvio Alvarez


The term «basic education» is widespread. However, there are different understandings and uses of this term by countries and by international agencies. We revise here the uses of «basic education» in: (a) the global «Education for All» agenda, co-ordinated by UNESCO (1990-2015), (b) UNESCO's International Standard Classification of Education  (ISCED), and (c) school systems.


Education for All and the «expanded vision of basic education»
"Basic education is more than an end in itself. It is the foundation for lifelong learning and human development on which countries may build, systematically, further levels and types of education and training" (Article 1. World Declaration on «Education for All»).

At the World Conference on Education for All (Jomtien-Thailand, 1990) organized by UNESCO, UNICEF, UNDP and the World Bank, the Education for All programme was launched. Governments agreed on six «basic education» goals embracing all ages: early childhood, childhood, youth, and adulthood.

Education for All adopted an «expanded vision of basic education», an education aimed at «meeting basic learning needs» of children, youth, and adults, in and out of school. Such basic learning needs comprised knowledge, values and attitudes required by human beings to:

1 survive
2 develop their full capacities
3 live and work in dignity,
4 participate fully in development 
5 improve the quality of their lives
6 make informed decisions
7 continue learning.

However, most governments understood «expanded» as adding school years to compulsory education rather than as radically rethinking conventional basic education

BASIC EDUCATION

Restricted Vision

Expanded Vision

refers to children 

refers to children, youth and adults

within the school system

in and out of the school system (family, community, everyday life)

equivalent to primary education                        equivalent to primary education or to some school level 

not defined by number of school years

it aims at learning a curriculum   

it aims at meeting basic learning needs

it refers to a life period   

it is lifelong 

it is homogeneous, same for all 

it is differentiated (persons and groups have different basic learning needs)

it is static  

it is dynamic, changes over time

it depends on the Ministry of Education 

it involves all ministries 

it is provided by the State 

it involves State and civil society  

Elaboration: Rosa María Torres. Adapted from One Decade of Education for All: The Challenge Ahead, IIPE-UNESCO Buenos Aires, 2000.



International agencies and plans


International agencies use the term basic education in different ways.

The World Bank understood basic education as non-formal education for youth and adults, later as primary education, and then as equivalent to primary and lower secondary education, coinciding with ISCED, UNESCO's official classification (see below). UNICEF emphasizes initial and primary education with the concept of basic education.

The education goal within the Millennium Development Goals (MDG, 2000-2015) did not refer to basic education but to primary education (reduced to four years of schooling, "survival to grade 5").

International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED), UNESCO


ISCED was created in the 1970s to facilitate comparisons of education statistics and indicators across countries on the basis of uniform and internationally agreed definitions. The first ISCED was approved at the International Conference on Education (Geneva, 1975) and later at UNESCO's General Conference. 

In 1997 ISCED was revised and approved at UNESCO's General Conference in November 1997.

In 2011 the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) proposed another revision, to take into account significant changes in education systems since 1997.

Another review took place in 2012. A panel of experts led by UIS developed a classification called the ISCED Fields of Education and Training (ISCED-F), which was adopted in November 2013. "This classification has been designed principally to describe and categorise fields of education and training at the secondary, post-secondary and tertiary levels of formal education as defined by ISCED 2011".


Level                              Description
ISCED 0 Early childhood education. Duration: variable.
ISCED 1 Primary education (first cycle of basic education). Duration: 4 to 7 years, 6 most common.
ISCED 2 Lower secondary education (second cycle of basic education). Duration: 2 to 5 years.
ISCED 3 Upper secondary education. Duration: 2 to 5 years, 3 most common.
ISCED 4 Post-secondary non tertiary education. Duration: 6 months to 3 years.
ISCED 5 Short cycle tertiary education. Duration: 2 to 3 years. 
ISCED 6 Bachelor's or equivalent level. Duration: 3, 4 o more years. 
ISCED 7 Master's  or equivalent level. Duration: 1 to 4 years.
ISCED 8 Doctoral or equivalent level. Duration: 3 years minimum.


In this classification «basic education» comprises primary and lower secondary education.

UNESCO never adopted the «expanded vision of basic education» agreed upon in Jomtien in 1990, which went beyond the school system and the number of years of schooling. 

At the UIS-UNESCO website (Glossary) we find this definition of «basic education»:
"Whole range of educational activities, taking place in various settings, that aim to meet basic learning needs as defined in the World Declaration on Education for All (Jomtien, Thailand, 1990). According to ISCED standard, basic education comprises primary education (first stage of basic education) and lower secondary education (second stage). It also covers a wide variety of non-formal and informal public and private activities intended to meet the basic learning needs of people of all ages".
Source: World Conference on EFA: Meeting Basic Learning Needs, Jomtien, Thailand, 1990.
School systems

In most countries, «basic education» continues to refer to school education and to children. In many countries, «basic education» and «primary education» are used as equivalent. In many countries, «basic education» is considered equivalent to «compulsory education». When «basic education» refers to youth and adults, it is generally associated to «school education» (formal or non-formal) and equivalent to «primary education».

In Latin America, each country uses «basic education» in its own way. Some countries use the term General Basic Education (Educación General Básica). Some adopt the ISCED classification: «basic education» comprising primary and lower secondary education. This is the case of Mexico or Colombia. In Ecuador, «basic education» comprises 10 years of schooling: one year of pre-school, six years of primarry education and three years of lower secondary education. In other countries, «basic education»  covers 8 years. In Argentina, «basic education» covers 9 years and «compulsory education» 12 years.

Brazil introduced the concept of «basic education» as equivalent to compulsory education and expanded compulsory education, covering initial, primary and secondary education (14 years of schooling, from 4 to 17 years of age). Thus, «basic education» comprises the entire school system prior to higher education. It includes children, youth and adults. The reform aims at an «integral school» working 7 hours a day, so as to expand and diversify learning experiences, in and out of school premises (community, socio-cultural, recreative, sports, etc.). Jomtien's «expanded vision of basic education» was somehow re-invented in Brazil. (See: Secretaria de Educação Básica).

One can find inconsistent definitions and classifications on the Internet. In Wikipedia, for example, primary, elementary and basic education appear as equivalent. However, the entry basic education refers to Education for All and its «expanded vision" as well as to the ISCED 2011 classificaton.

In conclusion: the «expanded vision of basic education» agreed upon in Jomtien in 1990 by governments and international agencies, and its understanding as an education capable of «meeting basic learining needs» of children, youth and adults, in and out of the school system, was never incorporated by UNESCO and other specialized international agencies, and was not further developed. Adopting it would have meant an education revolution.

More than education, it is schooling (school education) that is at the heart of national and international education agendas, which makes it difficult to understand and incorporate the LifeLong Learning paradigm.
 
Related texts in this blog
- Basic learning needs: Different frameworks

1990-2015: Education for All | Educación para Todos


Rosa María Torres
Tomado del sitio web de UNESCO

(Español, abajo)


Below is a compilation of texts (books, articles, interviews, blogs) - English, Spanish, Portuguese, French - that I have written on the global Education for All - EFA initiative (1990-2015). Over these 25 years I have been close to EFA since its start, at world, regional and national level, working from various capacities and places.
I attended the regional preparatory conference on EFA, held in Quito-Ecuador in 1988. Invited by UNESCO, I participated in 1990 at the World Conference on Education for All (Jomtien, Thailand) where EFA was launched and its six goals approved, dealing with an 'expanded vision of basic education', comprising children, youth and adults. I was also invited by UNESCO to attend the World Education Forum in 2000 (Dakar, Senegal) where the evaluation of the EFA decade was presented and the deadline was postponed until 2015 since the goals had not been met.

I was one of the five senior education advisers recruited by UNICEF in 1990 to organize an Education Cluster that would deal with EFA worldwide; being the editor of UNICEF's Education News was one of my tasks. Later, while working at IIPE UNESCO Buenos Aires in the late 1990s, I wrote a book on the first EFA decade and the challenges ahead. For the goals related to youth and adult literacy/basic education I have worked with UIE, later UIL, in Hamburg, as well as with UNESCO Paris in the preparation of the United Nations Literacy Decade (2003-2012). I drafted the Base Document for the Decade, which was discussed and approved at a special session at the Dakar Forum.

Since 2000 I organized and coordinated the Latin American Statement on Education for All and moderated for over ten years Comunidad Educativa, the virtual community linked to it. In 2003, together with members of Comunidad Educativa, we organized an open letter to Mr. Koichiro Maatsura protesting the designation of Mrs. Laura Bush as Honorary Ambassador for the UN Literacy Decade. The letter was signed by thousands of people worldwide.


I follow the developments and international debates on EFA. The 2000-2015 EFA Global Monitoring Report, released in April 2015, showed that the goals, once again, were not met. Only one third of countries met them worldwide, Cuba the only one in the Latin American and Caribbean context.

This compilation wants to be a contribution to the collective reflection and debate around EFA, and to the evaluation process of these 25 years of EFA implementation vis a vis the post 2015 scenario.



Compilo aquí textos (libros, artículos, entrevistas, blogs) - español, inglés, portugués, francés - que he escrito sobre la iniciativa mundial Educación para Todos - EPT (1990-2015). He estado cerca de la EPT a lo largo de estos 25 años y desde sus inicios, en diferentes capacidades y desde distintos lugares.

Estuve en la conferencia regional preparatoria de la Conferencia Mundial sobre Educación para Todos, realizada en Quito en 1988. Invitada por UNESCO, participé en 1990 en dicha conferencia en Jomtien-Tailandia, donde se lanzó la EPT y se aprobaron las seis metas con una 'visión ampliada de la educación básica', destinadas a "satisfacer necesidades básicas de aprendizaje" de niños, jóvenes y adultos, dentro y fuera del sistema escolar. También invitada por UNESCO, estuve en 2000 en el Foro Mundial de Educación (Dakar-Senegal), donde se presentó la evaluación de la década y se decidió postergar el plazo de la EPT por 15 años más, hasta el 2015, en vista de que las metas no se cumplieron.

Fui una de las cinco personas contratadas por UNICEF para formar parte del equipo de asesores de alto nivel que conformaría la Sección Educación de UNICEF en Nueva York, encargada de diseñar políticas de EPT a nivel mundial; parte de mis tareas fue ser la editora del boletín Education News de UNICEF. A fines de los 1990s, mientras trabajaba en el IIPE UNESCO Buenos Aires, escribí un libro sobre la primera década de EPT y los desafíos pendientes. Para las metas relacionadas con la alfabetización y la educación básica de jóvenes y adultos he trabajado con el UIE, más tarde rebautizado como UIL, en Hamburgo, así como con UNESCO París en la preparación de la Década de Naciones Unidas para la Alfabetización (2003-2012), para la que redacté el Documento Base que fue discutido y aprobado en una sesión especial en Dakar.

Desde el 2000, a partir del Foro Mundial de Dakar, organicé y coordiné el Pronunciamiento Latinoamericano por una Educación para Todos y moderé durante más de 10 años la comunidad virtual Comunidad Educativa asociada a éste. En 2003, junto con miembros del Pronunciamiento y de Comunidad Educativa, organizamos y enviamos una carta abierta al Sr. Koichiro Maatsura protestando por la designación de la Sra. Laura Bush como Embajadora Honoraria de la Década de Alfabetización. La carta fue firmada por miles de personas en todo el mundo.
Seguí de cerca los desarrollos y debates de la EPT a nivel internacional. El Informe Global de Monitoreo de la EPT 2000-2015, hecho público en abril de 2015, mostró que, una vez más, las metas no se cumplieron. Solo un tercio de los países - la mayoría del "mundo desarrollado" - alcanzaron todas las metas; Cuba fue el único en América Latina y El Caribe.

Con esta compilación aspiro contribuir a la reflexión colectiva en torno a la EPT y a la evaluación de sus 25 años de trayectoria.




Reaching the Unreached: Non-Formal Approaches and Universal Primary Education
(Rosa María Torres and Manzoor Ahmed), UNICEF Education Cluster, New York, 1993 (dossier)
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2013/06/reaching-unreached-non-formal.html



Open Letter to School Children

In: Education News, N° 11, UNICEF, Education Cluster, New York, 1995
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2010/08/open-letter-to-school-children.html

Carta abierta para niños y niñas que van a la escuela
En: Education News, N° 11, UNICEF, Education Cluster, New York, 1995
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2010/08/carta-abierta-para-ninos-y-ninas-que.html



Children's right to basic education

In: Education News, N° 14, UNICEF, Education Cluster, New York, 1995
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2010/11/childrens-right-to-basic-education.html


El derecho de niños y niñas a una educación básica
En: Education News, N° 14, UNICEF, Education Cluster, New York, 1995
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2011/08/el-derecho-de-ninos-y-ninas-una.html



La educación según el Banco Mundial. Un análisis de sus propuestas y métodos
, Miño y Dávila/ CEM, Buenos Aires, 1997; 2a. edición, Buenos Aires/ México/Madrid, 1999. (con José Luis Coraggio)

"Improving the Quality of Basic Education? The Strategies of the World Bank", in: Stromquist, N.; Basile, M. (ed.). 1999. Politics of Educational Innovations in Developing Countries, An Analysis of Knowledge and Power. NewYork-London: Falmer Press, 1999.

¿Qué recomendaba el Banco Mundial para la reforma educativa en los 1990s?

http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2013/10/que-recomendaba-el-banco-mundial-para.html



¿Mejorar la educación para aliviar la pobreza o aliviar la pobreza para mejorar la educación?
En: Rosa María Torres, Itinerarios por la educación latinoamericana: Cuaderno de viajes, Editorial Paidós, Buenos Aires-Barcelona-México, 2000.
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2010/09/mejorar-la-educacion-para-aliviar-la.html



Una década de Educación para Todos: La tarea pendiente
(IIPE-UNESCO Buenos Aires, 2000, PDF)

One Decade of 'Education for All': The Challenge Ahead (IIEP-UNESCO Buenos Aires, 2000, PDF)
http://www.iipe-buenosaires.org.ar/publicaciones/one-decade-education-all-challenge-ahead


What happened at the World Education Forum (Dakar 200)?
http://www.iiz-dvv.de/index.php?article_id=473&clang=1


¿Qué pasó en el Foro Mundial de Educación (Dakar, 2000)?

http://www.iiz-dvv.de/index.php?article_id=473&clang=3


Que s’est-il passé au Forum Mondial sur L’Éducation (Dakar, 2000)?
http://www.iiz-dvv.de/index.php?article_id=473&clang=2



Literacy for All: A United Nations Literacy Decade (2003-2012): Base Document for the Literacy Decade (2000)
http://www.slideshare.net/RosaMariaTorres2015/base-document-united-nations-literacy-decade-20032012


Alfabetización para Todos: Década de Naciones Unidas para la Alfabetización (2003-2012): Documento Base para la Década (2000)
http://www.slideshare.net/RosaMariaTorres2015/documento-base-dcada-de-las-naciones-unidas-para-la-alfabetizacin-20032012

GLEACE: Letter to UNESCO on the Literacy Decade (2003-2012)
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2012/01/letter-to-unesco-on-literacy-decade.html

GLEACE: Carta a la UNESCO sobre el Decenio de la Alfabetización (2003-2012)
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2012/01/carta-la-unesco-sobre-el-decenio-de-la.html



Lifelong Learning for the North, Primary Education for the South?
Abstract of the presentation at the International Conference on Lifelong Learning “Global Perspectives in Education” (Beijing, China, 1-3 July 2001)
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2011/11/lifelong-learning-for-north-primary.html

¿Aprendizaje a lo Largo de la Vida para el Norte, Educación Primaria para el Sur?
Resumen de la exposición (en inglés) en la Conferencia Internacional sobre Aprendizaje a lo Largo de la Vida “Perspectivas Globales en Educación”, (Pekín, China, 1-3 Julio 2001)
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2011/04/aprendizaje-lo-largo-de-la-vida-para-el.html



Lifelong Learning in the South: Critical Issues and Opportunities for Adult Education
Sida Studies 11, Stockholm, 2004
http://www.sida.se/Svenska/Om-oss/Publikationsdatabas/Publikationer/2004/november/No11-Lifelong-Learning-in-the-South-Critical-Issues-and-Opportunities-for-Adult-Education3/







Literacy and Lifelong Learning: The Linkages
Invited speaker. Conference and paper presented at the 2006 Biennale of ADEA
(Libreville, Gabon, March 27-31, 2006)

http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2012/01/literacy-and-lifelong-learning-linkages.html



Six 'Education for All' Goals (Jomtien/Dakar)
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2013/01/six-education-for-all-goals-seis-metas.html


Seis Metas de la 'Educación para Todos'
(Jomtien/Dakar)
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2013/01/six-education-for-all-goals-seis-metas.html



¿Qué es 'educación básica'?
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2014/08/que-es-educacion-basica.html

What happened to the "expanded vision of basic education"?
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2014/09/what-happened-to-expanded-vision-of.html



Educación para Todos y Objetivos del Milenio no son la misma cosa
Entrevista con la Campaña Latinoamericana por el Derecho a la Educación (CLADE), 2005

http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2012/05/educacion-educacion-para-todos-y-metas.html




América Latina: Seis décadas de metas para la educación (1957-2021) | Latin America: Six decades of education goals (1957-2021)
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2010/12/america-latina-cuatro-decadas-de-metas_20.html



La 'Educación para Todos' se encogió
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2014/10/la-educacion-para-todos-se-encogio.html




Adult Literacy in Latin America and the Caribbean: Plans and Goals 1980-2015
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2011/05/adult-literacy-in-latin-amrica-and.html


Alfabetización de adultos en América Latina y el Caribe: planes y metas 1980-2015
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2011/06/alfabetizacion-de-adultos-en-america.html




International Initiatives for Education | Iniciativas internacionales para la educación
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2013/03/international-initiatives-for-education.html



About "good practice" in international co-operation in education
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2011/11/what-would-be-good-practice-in.html




Military spending in education | Gasto militar en educación
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2011/03/military-spending-and-education-gasto.html



From Literacy to Lifelong Learning: Trends, Issues and Challenges of Youth and Adult Education in Latin America and the Caribbean
prepared for the Sixth International Conference on Adult Education - CONFINTEA VI (UNESCO, Belém, Brazil, 1-4 Dec. 2009).
 
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2011/05/from-literacy-to-lifelong-learning-de.html
http://www.unesco.org/en/confinteavi/grale/

De la alfabetización al aprendizaje a lo largo de toda la vida: Tendencias, temas y desafíos de la educación de personas jóvenes y adultas en América Latina y el Caribe
preparado para la VI Conferencia Internacional sobre Educación de Adultos - CONFINTEA VI (Belém-Pará, Brasil, 1-4 diciembre 2009)
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2011/05/from-literacy-to-lifelong-learning-de.html



Education First | Educación Primero
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2012/09/educacion-primero-education-first.html




II Pronunciamiento Latinoamericano por una Educación para Todos
II Encuentro de firmantes y I Encuentro Presencial de Comunidad Educativa (Buenos Aires, 8-11 septiembre, 2010)
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/p/pronunciamiento-latinoamericano-por-una.html

II Pronunciamiento Latinoamericano por uma Educacao para Todos

II Encontro de Signatários e I Encontro Presencial da Comunidad Educativa (Buenos Aires, 8-11 de Setembro, 2010)
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/p/pronunciamiento-latinoamericano-por-una.html




¿Renuncia a un mundo alfabetizado?

Giving up to a literate world?
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2013/11/giving-up-to-literate-world.html

en: DVV, Adult Education and Development, issue 80, December 2013
http://www.dvv-international.de/index.php?article_id=1460&clang=1



El fracaso alfabetizador de la escuela
Presentación al texto de Emilia Ferreiro "La alfabetización de los niños en la última década del siglo"
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2013/05/el-fracaso-alfabetizador-de-la-escuela.html



25 años de Educación para Todos

http://educacion-para-todos.blogspot.com/2013/03/25-anos-de-educacion-para-todos-25.html

25 Years of Education for All

http://educacion-para-todos.blogspot.com/2013/03/25-anos-de-educacion-para-todos-25.html



Observatorio: Mitos y metas de la 'Educación para Todos' (1990-2015)

http://educacion-para-todos.blogspot.com/2013/03/25-anos-de-educacion-para-todos-25.html


Observatory: Myths and goals of 'Education for All' (1990-2015)

http://educacion-para-todos.blogspot.com/2013/03/25-anos-de-educacion-para-todos-25.html






Education for All 2000-2015: How did Latin America and the Caribbean do?
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2015/04/education-for-all-2000-2015-how-did.html




1990-2030: Global education goals | Metas globales para la educación (tabla) http://otra-educacion.blogspot.mx/2015/09/1990-2030-global-education-goals-metas.html




Now comes PISA for 'developing countries' (PISA-D)



Some of the concerns raised around OECD's PISA tests (reading, mathematics and science, applied every three years to 15 year olds) refer to their inadequacy for "developing countries". 

Participating Latin American countries systematically occupy some of the lowest places in PISA rankings, far from "developed" OECD countries
(in the past few years, Mexico, Chile and Colombia have been accepted as OECD countries; they are also at the bottom). 

PISA tests were developed by and for OECD countries. Later, non-OECD countries  have joined PISA, 10 of them from Latin America and the Caribbean: Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Chile, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Trinidad & Tobago, and Uruguay. (See: list of countries that have participated in PISA)

Issues related to the inadequacy or usefulness of PISA for non-OECD countries include the following:

» the need to contextualize the tests, responding to the great heterogeneity (socio-economic, cultural, etc.) of countries, within the same generic category of "developing";

»
many 15 year olds are out of school because they never enrolled or because they dropped out (drop out rates are high in may countries, especially in secondary education);  

» there is no technical capacity in the majority of countries to administer a complex and massive standardized test such as PISA; 
» many countries participate in international tests (such as UNESCO's LLECE tests in the case of Latin America);
» devastating domestic effects in countries getting low results and rankings in PISA tests;

» the enormous attention dedicated by governments to improve scores and rankings in the next PISA test, distracting time and resources from critical structural issues and from learning as such. 


Some of these concerns have been aired in open letters addressed to OECD, such as the one sent in 2013 by Ministers of Education in Latin America (Los Ministros de Educación del MERCOSUR y la prueba PISA) or the one sent in 2014 by 92 academics from the US and other OECD countries (Stop PISA!). Concerns have also been raised in Chile (Bárbara Figueroa critica la Prueba PISA porque mide asuntos 'ajenos a la realidad educativa chilena') and in Ecuador vis a vis this country's decision to join PISA (PISA ¿para qué? ¿El Ecuador en PISA?). (See: Critical Voices of PISA in Latin America).

Responding to these and other concerns, the OECD proposed PISA for Development (PISA-D), an initiative addressed to middle and low income countries. The idea is to expand the participation of non-OECD countries in PISA. Nine countries - from Africa, Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean - expressed their interest to participate in the pilot project: Bhutan, Cambodia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay, Senegal, and Zambia. (See: Technical meeting, June 2013); OECD Call for Tender 100000990, August 2014).
"PISA for Development aims to increase the policy relevance of PISA for developing countries through enhanced PISA survey instruments that are more relevant for the contexts found in developing countries but which produce scores that are on the same scales as the main PISA assessment. The project will also develop an approach and methodology for including out of school children in the surveys. The project’s objectives will be achieved over a 36 month period through a three-way partnership involving the OECD, concerned development partners (DAC members plus the World Bank, UNESCO and other UN bodies and other regional organisations) and partner countries from the developing world".
The OECD sees the following advantages of PISA for Development:
• "A single reference against which to rigorously gauge the degree of progress
made towards targets for educational quality and equity.

• A comparable and robust measure of progress to allow all countries – regardless of their starting point – to establish themselves on an improvement trajectory to achieve targets referenced to common international goals.

• Credible and comparable results: PISA requires participating countries to follow common technical, institutional and administrative standards for the assessment.

• An opportunity to help build institutional capacity. Countries are responsible for overseeing PISA implementation; therefore, participation in PISA can also drive improvements in institutions. This capacity building could be implemented directly with development partners in a way that creates spill-over benefits to other parts of the educational sector."
PISA-D is an OECD strategy for the post-2015 period. 2015 marked the deadline for two major world initiatives: Education for All (EFA, 1990-2000-2015) and the Millennium Development Goals (MDG, 2000-2015). In 2015, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and the 2030 Agenda were approved.

International awareness around a "global learning crisis" - millions of children worldwide not learning to read, write and calculate after attending school for four years or more - acknowledges for the first time the precariousness of learning in primary schools in most "developing countries" and is contributing to finally place learning as an explicit and fundamental goal. Unfortunately, that goes also with an emphasis on learning assessment starting now in pre-primary education. In that context, OECD/PISA appear as key global partners.

"Developing a universal measure of educational success" is one of eleven areas in which OECD plans to contribute to the 2030 Agenda (Beyond the MDGs: Towards an OECD contribution to the post-2015 agenda). In other words: the aim is to establish ONE definition of 'educational success' and ONE way to measure it worldwide, in the North and in the South. PISA-D is the strategy and the instrument to incorporate that "other part of the world" still absent from the global education evaluation race.

A big player and evaluation enthusiast such as the World Bank blesses global learning benchmarks and recommends them especially for "developing countries."
"In a global economy the primary benchmark for success is no longer improvement by national standards, but the best-performing education systems internationally. (Having said that, it’s also important for countries to set and measure learning goals that reflect their own national priorities and values.) This usually means participating in one of the many international assessment programs that test the math, science, problem solving or other competencies of students at the same grade or age level in different education systems around the world. Countries – particularly developing and emerging economies – may feel at a disadvantage in this global benchmarking, but should keep in mind that steady improvement over time is the important thing." (Education: Measuring for Success in Today’s World, 9 May 2014).

Issues that may need more focused attention and discussion 


The following issues were mentioned in "The PISA for Development initiative moves forward: Have my wishes been fulfilled?" (2 Feb. 2015):

- A test with questions that 15-year-olds in emerging and developing economies can actually answer.

The OECD’s original plan was to draw solely on their existing pool of 337 PISA questions to create the PISA for Development test. One and a half year later, the OECD started to explore using  questions from other regional and international assessments to supplement the PISA questions. The idea is to make sure 15-year-olds in emerging and developing countries can actually answer.

- A test that emerging and developing economies can afford.

The PISA for Development pilot is about twice as expensive as the regular PISA exercise, since it  involves lots of developmental work, in an effort to adapt the questionnaires to the contexts of these countries and to develop a methodology to include out-of-school students. Donors such as the World Bank have provided financial support to facilitate countries' participation. It is essential, however, to take a hard look at the long-term sustainability of PISA for Development, if countries are expected to cover the costs on their own.

- A test that contributes to learning for all.

The pilot faced the challenge of collecting learning data on the entire 15-year-old cohort in a country, including those who are out of school. This may include youth who never went to school or who are semi-literate.

PISA-D is administered both in and outside of school. Eight countries – Bhutan, Cambodia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Paraguay, Senegal and Zambia – participated  in the school-based implementation of PISA-D, which was carried out from 2015 to 2018. Six countries administered the out-of-school assessment: Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay, Senegal and Zambia. 

PISA-D countries can compare their results to the more than 80 countries participating in PISA.

PISA-D results

PISA-D results were released by OECD on 11 December, 2018, in Quito. Results included seven countries: Cambodia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Paraguay, Senegal and Zambia. Bhutan is not included since it arrived late.

Cambodia
Ecuador

Guatemala

Honduras

Paraguay

Senegal

Zambia

oe.cd/il/PISA4Dev


Related texts in this blog

Sobre evaluación en educación  | On Evaluation in Education
Artículos sobre PISA  | Articles on PISA
25 Years of Education for All  | 25 años de Educación para Todos

 

LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...