The Ecuadorian Public News Agency (Andes) published the note "Ecuador leads the primary education quality ranking in South America" ("Ecuador lidera ranking de calidad en educación primaria de Suramérica", 25 April 2014). The note quoted the Global Competitiveness Index 2013-2014 of the World Economic Forum (WEF). Ecuador appeared in position number 74 (3.8 points) in this category. Andes referred to South America - not to Latin America - since Costa Rica (located in Central America) appears in position 32 (4.8 points), thus with a leading position in the region. (See table at the bottom)
WEF's ranking on educational quality took us by surprise as well as the values attributed to Latin American countries. In the regional context, Cuba occupies a prominent position in the two studies conducted so far by UNESCO's Latin American Laboratory for Assessment of the Quality of Education (LLECE). LLECE tests assess Language and Mathematics in third and sixth grades, and Natural Sciences in sixth grade. 16 countries participated in the second study (SERCE, 2006). Cuba, Chile, Costa Rica, Mexico and Uruguay were above the regional average; Ecuador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru and the Dominican Republic appeared below the regional average. (See SERCE's Executive Summary).
The presence (or absence) of other countries in the world in the first 74 positions of quality primary education also called my attention. Thus, I decided to find out how WEF defines quality education and establishes the rankings. It turns out that they result from an Opinion Survey - "The Voice of the Business Community" (110 respondents in Costa Rica; 118 in Ecuador, for the various topics).
As seen on Table 4.9 on Quality Primary Education, the question asked was:
Several concerns arise:
a) WEF does not indicate that the 'quality of education' indicator is related to perceptions and opinions, rather than to research.
b) The business community is not a specialized voice in the field of education and in the topic of educational quality. Also, Partner Institutes - as they are called in the report- may be linked to the government in ways that make it difficult to have an independent opinion. Quality of education (of any level and sort) is a complex and much debated concept, dependant on many factors. Dealing with it requires specialized and well-informed knowledge;
c) Quality of education is essentially and ultimately related to learning processes and outcomes. Specific measures and instruments have been developed nationally and internationally in order to assess such processes and outcomes, beyond opinions;
d) The question asks about primary schools - not about primary education. This leads to pay attention to issues such as infrastructure or equipment, disregarding education as such, pedagogy and learning;
e) In Latin America and in other "developing regions" there are often huge and persistent gaps between rural and urban schools, and between indigenous and non-indigenous schools, thus making it very difficult to judge quality of primary schools in general;
f) It is widely acknowledged and confirmed that less educated societies or segments of the population tend to be the ones that are most satisfied with their school systems and the education they receive, while more educated societies or social segments tend to be more dissatisfied and critical. This reinforces the vicious circle of low quality education.
A study conducted by the InterAmerican Development Bank (IDB), adding specific questions to the Gallup World Survey, concluded that Latin America has "excessive satisfaction" vis a vis health and education services, given the objective quality of such services. This was and remains true especially in the case of education. Discipline, security and infrastructure tend to be valued by Latin Americans much more than teaching, learning, and effective learning outcomes. Perceptions of quality are particularly distant from realities. See: Beyond Facts, Understanding Quality of Life, Eduardo Lora (ed.), IDB, 2007.
The same applies to PISA international tests. Despite the fact that participating Latin American countries systematically occupy the last positions in the three areas assessed (reading, mathematics and science), students are quite happy with their schools (question asked: "Am I happy in school?"). The low results/high satisfaction paradox is prominent in Latin America.
In conclusion: we should not consider WEF's values and rankings attributed to quality of education as reliable and useful indicators.
WEF's ranking on educational quality took us by surprise as well as the values attributed to Latin American countries. In the regional context, Cuba occupies a prominent position in the two studies conducted so far by UNESCO's Latin American Laboratory for Assessment of the Quality of Education (LLECE). LLECE tests assess Language and Mathematics in third and sixth grades, and Natural Sciences in sixth grade. 16 countries participated in the second study (SERCE, 2006). Cuba, Chile, Costa Rica, Mexico and Uruguay were above the regional average; Ecuador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru and the Dominican Republic appeared below the regional average. (See SERCE's Executive Summary).
The presence (or absence) of other countries in the world in the first 74 positions of quality primary education also called my attention. Thus, I decided to find out how WEF defines quality education and establishes the rankings. It turns out that they result from an Opinion Survey - "The Voice of the Business Community" (110 respondents in Costa Rica; 118 in Ecuador, for the various topics).
As seen on Table 4.9 on Quality Primary Education, the question asked was:
In your country, how would you assess the quality of primary schools?1 = extremely poor - among the worst in the world.7 = excellent - among the best in the world.
a) WEF does not indicate that the 'quality of education' indicator is related to perceptions and opinions, rather than to research.
b) The business community is not a specialized voice in the field of education and in the topic of educational quality. Also, Partner Institutes - as they are called in the report- may be linked to the government in ways that make it difficult to have an independent opinion. Quality of education (of any level and sort) is a complex and much debated concept, dependant on many factors. Dealing with it requires specialized and well-informed knowledge;
c) Quality of education is essentially and ultimately related to learning processes and outcomes. Specific measures and instruments have been developed nationally and internationally in order to assess such processes and outcomes, beyond opinions;
d) The question asks about primary schools - not about primary education. This leads to pay attention to issues such as infrastructure or equipment, disregarding education as such, pedagogy and learning;
e) In Latin America and in other "developing regions" there are often huge and persistent gaps between rural and urban schools, and between indigenous and non-indigenous schools, thus making it very difficult to judge quality of primary schools in general;
f) It is widely acknowledged and confirmed that less educated societies or segments of the population tend to be the ones that are most satisfied with their school systems and the education they receive, while more educated societies or social segments tend to be more dissatisfied and critical. This reinforces the vicious circle of low quality education.
A study conducted by the InterAmerican Development Bank (IDB), adding specific questions to the Gallup World Survey, concluded that Latin America has "excessive satisfaction" vis a vis health and education services, given the objective quality of such services. This was and remains true especially in the case of education. Discipline, security and infrastructure tend to be valued by Latin Americans much more than teaching, learning, and effective learning outcomes. Perceptions of quality are particularly distant from realities. See: Beyond Facts, Understanding Quality of Life, Eduardo Lora (ed.), IDB, 2007.
The same applies to PISA international tests. Despite the fact that participating Latin American countries systematically occupy the last positions in the three areas assessed (reading, mathematics and science), students are quite happy with their schools (question asked: "Am I happy in school?"). The low results/high satisfaction paradox is prominent in Latin America.
In conclusion: we should not consider WEF's values and rankings attributed to quality of education as reliable and useful indicators.
RANK COUNTRY/ECONOMY VALUE
1 Finland ........................................... 6.8
2 Belgium ......................................... 6.3
3 Singapore ...................................... 6.0
4 Barbados ....................................... 6.0
5 Switzerland .................................... 6.0
6 New Zealand ................................ 5.8
7 Lebanon ........................................ 5.7
8 Ireland ............................................ 5.7
9 Malta ............................................. 5.7
10 Netherlands ..................................5.7
11 Qatar ............................................5.6
12 Cyprus ..........................................5.6
13 Canada .........................................5.5
14 Taiwan, China ..............................5.4
15 Iceland ..........................................5.4
16 Bosnia and Herzegovina...............5.4
17 Brunei Darussalam........................5.3
18 Estonia ..........................................5.2
19 United Arab Emirates ...................5.2
20 Slovenia ........................................5.1
21 Japan ...........................................5.1
22 Australia ........................................5.0
23 Korea, Rep...................................5.0
24 Sweden ........................................5.0
25 Germany .......................................5.0
26 Lithuania .......................................5.0
27 Montenegro ..................................5.0
28 Austria ..........................................4.9
29 Norway .........................................4.9
30 Hong Kong SAR ...........................4.9
31 United Kingdom ............................4.9
32 Costa Rica.....................................4.8
33 Malaysia ........................................4.8
34 Latvia ............................................4.8
35 France ..........................................4.7
36 Guyana .........................................4.7
37 Ukraine .........................................4.7
38 Croatia ..........................................4.7
39 Luxembourg .................................4.7
40 Italy ...............................................4.7
41 United States ................................4.7
42 Denmark .......................................4.7
43 Sri Lanka......................................4.6
44 Jordan ..........................................4.6
45 Trinidad and Tobago ......................4.6
46 Portugal ........................................4.5
47 Mauritius .......................................4.5
48 Bhutan ..........................................4.5
49 Seychelles .....................................4.4
50 Gambia, The.................................4.4
51 Czech Republic............................4.3
52 Hungary ........................................4.3
53 Albania ..........................................4.3
54 Slovak Republic............................4.3
55 Indonesia ......................................4.3
56 China ............................................4.3
57 Oman ...........................................4.2
58 Poland ..........................................4.2
59 Saudi Arabia.................................4.2
60 Bulgaria ........................................4.1
61 Russian Federation.......................4.1
62 Swaziland .....................................4.1
63 Zimbabwe .....................................4.1
64 Bahrain .........................................4.0
65 Iran, Islamic Rep...........................4.0
66 Spain ............................................4.0
67 Botswana .....................................4.0
68 Suriname ......................................4.0
69 Kazakhstan ...................................3.9
70 Macedonia, FYR...........................3.9
71 Israel .............................................3.9
72 Tunisia ..........................................3.9
73 Cape Verde..................................3.9
74 Ecuador ........................................3.8
SOURCE: World Economic Forum, Executive Opinion Survey
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