India to take part in student assessment test

Seeking to upgrade the quality of secondary education and create benchmarks for students, India will participate in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) survey, which will be held in 2018, Maharashtra school education department sources said.

Held once in every three years, the programme, which is designed and conducted by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), is an accepted litmus test for gauging where students stand alongside their peers from other countries.

South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore are among the top four in the earlier conducted PISA survey.

India ranked second last among the 73 countries that participated in the PISA, which is held to evaluate education systems worldwide by the OECD Secretariat.

The survey is based on two-hour tests that half a million students are put made to take.

Speaking about the survey, Basanti Roy, former divisional secretary of the state board, said, “ We have a long way to go. We need to prepare from all aspects. Though we may be lagging behind, by entering competitions we will able to understand where we stand.”

“We focus on details especially on mathematics and science. We have to identify and rectify the problems faced by schoolchildren in their lessons. We need to hire proper teacher to get students on the right track,” Ms Roy said.