The level of schools in Wales will drop below the one in Romania by 2040 / how many Welsh students are functionally illiterate, according to a new report
Indicator from Wales – Caution of school. Photo: Richard Williams | Dreamstime.com
The educational standards in the Welsh schools are in decline, and the level of performance of them will be exceeded by Romania in 2040, says a report of a Think-Tank related to the Conservative Party, writes Nation Cymru.
According to the analysis by Onward UK, Welsh students currently have average performances similar to those of the most disadvantaged students in England.
In the report “convicted of failure: the decline of Welsh education and the urgent need for a reform” states that “the results of PISA in Wales are now lower than the OcDe media, science and mathematics – and far after England.”
It is expected that the general results of the Wales in Pisa will fall below those of Romania by 2040, if the current trends continue.
Absenteeism and poor exam results
According to international standards, the average Welsh student has results at the same level as those of the poorest students in England.
School absenteeism in Wales is almost 70% higher than in England (12% compared to 7.1%), over one third of students missing at least 10% of hours.
Only half of the Welsh Secondary Schools inspected last year had a satisfactory level of teaching or presence.
Based on the latest PISA scores of the OECD and the new forecasts for 2040, the report presents a gloomy image of the long-term educational decline.
Differences in Pisa tests as one year of school lost
This year's results at A-Level and GCSE exams in Wales, take the report, show a continuous and worrying trend in terms of educational results in the country.
The essential stagnation of the promotion rates on the A-Level and GCSE exams is in accordance with the ONWARD conclusions, according to which the results will continue to decrease in the coming decades, not only in the countries of the United Kingdom, but also at international level.
Wales are currently in the last place of all the Nations in the United Kingdom in terms of all key educational indicators.
In the latest PISA results, the Welsh students obtained 30 points less in science, 30 points less in reading and 26 points less in mathematics compared to students in England. These differences represent the equivalent of a whole year of lost learning.
One fifth of the Welsh School Students are functionally illiterate
The report identifies the main causes of the worsening of the performance: the further use of the obsolete literacy methods, a national curriculum too vague and the weak responsibility of the schools due to the abolition of the rankings.
The School Inspectorate in Wales, Estyn, found that over two thirds of secondary schools must improve their self-evaluation, and half of them have problems with teaching or frequency.
Regarding the teaching of reading students from primary schools, the report states: “A factor that contributes to these very different reading skills at the age of 15 can be found right at the beginning of children's education, in the methods used to read. Wales still uses the discredited method of” cueing “. This method encourages children to deduce the meaning of words. Experts have found that the “cueing” method causes children to guess the words instead of pronouncing them, the technique proving to affect the ability of children to learn to read.
In fact, an ITV investigation highlighted in 2012 that Estyn found that one fifth of the children in the primary schools in Wales were functional illiterates and that the further use of the cueing method risks putting more children in this situation. Indeed, reading levels in Wales have been significantly worsened since 2012.
Photo: © Richard Williams | Dreamstime.com
