Thursday, March 4, 2021

Indian Engineering Students Perform Poorly on International Assessment Tests

The results of a test called "Supertest", developed by researchers from the US, China, Russia and India,, show that Indian engineering students perform very poorly relative to their  peers in other countries. Supertest is the first study to track the progress of students in computer science and electrical engineering over the course of their studies with regard to their abilities in physics, mathematics and critical thinking and compare the results among four countries.  

Supertest was initiated by Stanford University, HSE University Moscow, the Educational Testing Service (ETS), and partner universities in China and India, according to Phys.org.  Here's an excerpt of the article in journal that explains the test:

"More than 30,000 undergraduate students participated in the study. The researchers collected a sample of students from elite and large universities, roughly equal in number for each country. In Russia, the sample included students from six Project 5-100 universities and 28 other universities. Their skill development was measured three times: upon entering university, at the end of their second year, and at the end of their studies........Russian engineering students outperform Indian students while performing lower than Chinese students. In terms of developing these skills over the course of their studies, students of all three countries perform lower than students in the United States. "We found that, as the students progress in their studies, their critical thinking skills remain approximately the same in Russia and India, but significantly decrease in China. On the contrary, American students show improvement," said Igor Chirikov. This is a serious problem, the researchers note, because technologies change rapidly, and in order to be able to master new ones, you need not only a firm grasp of the subject area, but, above all, skills of the 21st century".


Earlier testing of Indian students on international assessment tests has also shown that they rank near the bottom on PISA, a global test of learning standards conducted in 74 nations in 2011.  TIMSS, another standardized international test, produced similar results earlier in 2003.


The year 2011 was the first time that Indian students participated in PISA. Students from Himachal Pradesh and Tamil Nadu took the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) test, coordinated by the Paris-based Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Prior to this participation, students from Indian states of Orissa and Rajasthan took a similar test called Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) in 2003.

Tamil Nadu and Himachal Pradesh rank high on human development indicators among Indian states. The India Human Development Report 2011, prepared by the Institute of Applied Manpower Research (IAMR), categorized them as “median” states, putting them significantly ahead of the national average. IAMR is an autonomous arm of India's Planning Commission.



Himachal Pradesh ranked 4 and Tamil Nadu 11 in literacy rates on India's National Family Health Survey released in 2007. However, in the PISA study, Tamil Nadu ranked 72 and Himachal Pradesh 73, just ahead of the bottom-ranked Kyrgyzstan in mathematics and overall reading skills. Shanghai, China's biggest city, topped the PISA rankings in all three categories—overall reading skills, mathematical and scientific literacy. The new entrants included Costa Rica, Georgia, India (Himachal Pradesh & Tamil Nadu), Malaysia, Malta, Mauritius, Venezuela (Miranda), Moldova, United Arab Emirates. PISA 2009+ involved testing just over 46 000 students across these ten economies, representing a total of about 1,377,000 15-year-olds.


In Tamil Nadu, only 17% of students were estimated to possess proficiency in reading that is at or above the baseline needed to be effective and productive in life. In Himachal Pradesh, this level is 11%. “This compares to 81% of students performing at or above the baseline level in reading in the OECD countries, on an average,” said the study.

The average Indian child taking part in PISA2009+ is 40 to 50 points behind the worst students in the economic superstars. Even the best performers in Tamil Nadu and Himachal Pradesh - the top 5 percent who India will need in science and technology to complete globally - were almost 100 points behind the average child in Singapore and 83 points behind the average Korean - and a staggering 250 points behind the best in the best.

The average child in HP & TN is right at the level of the worst OECD or American students (only 1.5 or 7.5 points ahead). Contrary to President Obama's oft-expressed concerns about American students ability to compete with their Indian counterparts, the average 15-year-old Indian placed in an American school would be among the weakest students in the classroom, says Lant Pritchett of Harvard University. Even the best TN/HP students are 24 points behind the average American 15 year old.

The 2003 TIMSS study ranked India at 46 among 51 countries. Indian students' score was 392 versus average of 467 for the group. These results were contained in a Harvard University report titled "India Shining and Bharat Drowning".

These results are not only a wake-up call for the Hindutva brigade, but also raise serious questions about the credibility of India's western cheerleaders like Indian-American journalist Fareed Zakaria and New York Times' columnist Tom Friedman.

Children Who Can Not Read by Age 10. Source: World Bank via Economist



A World Bank report on student learning in South Asia is also depressing. Sri Lanka is the sole exception to the overall low levels of achievement for primary and secondary school kids in the region.  The report documents with ample data from various assessments to conclude that "learning outcomes and the average level of skill acquisition in the region are low in both absolute and relative terms". The report covers education from primary through upper secondary schools.

Source: World Bank Report on Education in South Asia 2014

Buried inside the bad news is a glimmer of what could be considered hope for Pakistan's grade 5 and 8 students outperforming their counterparts in India. While 72% of Pakistan's 8th graders can do simple division, the comparable figure for Indian 8th graders is just 57%. Among 5th graders, 63% of Pakistanis and 73% of Indians CAN NOT divide a 3 digit number by a single digit number, according to the World Bank report titled "Student Learning in South Asia: Challenges, Opportunities, and Policy Priorities".  The performance edge of Pakistani kids  over their Indian counterparts is particularly noticeable in rural areas. The report also shows that Pakistani children do better than Indian children in reading ability.

Source: World Bank Report on Education in South Asia 2014


Here are some excepts from the World Bank report:

Unfortunately, although more children are in school, the region still has a major learning challenge in that the children are not acquiring basic skills. For example, only 50 percent of grade 3 students in Punjab, Pakistan, have a complete grasp of grade 1 mathematics (Andrabi et al. 2007). In India, on a test of reading comprehension administered to grade 5 students across the country, only 46 percent were able to correctly identify the cause of an event, and only a third of the students could compute the difference between two decimal numbers (NCERT 2011). Another recent study found that about 43 percent of grade 8 students could not solve a simple division problem. Even recognition of two-digit numbers, supposed to be taught in grade 2, is often not achieved until grade 4 or 5 (Pratham 2011). In Bangladesh, only 25 percent of fifth-grade students have mastered Bangla and 33 percent have mastered the mathematics competencies specified in the national curriculum (World Bank 2013). In the current environment, there is little evidence that learning outcomes will improve by simply increasing school inputs in a business-as-usual manner (Muralidharan and Zieleniak 2012).


Source: The Hindu

In rural Pakistan, the Annual State of Education Report (ASER) 2011 assessment suggests, arithmetic competency is very low in absolute terms. For instance, only 37 percent of grade 5 students can divide three-digit numbers by a single-digit number (and only 27 percent in India); and 28 percent of grade 8 students cannot perform simple division. Unlike in rural India, however, in rural Pakistan recognition of two-digit numbers is widespread by grade 3 (SAFED 2012). The Learning and Educational Achievement in Punjab Schools (LEAPS) survey—a 2003 assessment of 12,000 children in grade 3 in the province—also found that children were performing significantly below curricular standards (Andrabi et al. 2007). Most could not answer simple math questions, and many children finished grade 3 unable to perform mathematical operations covered in the grade 1 curriculum. A 2009 assessment of 40,000 grade 4 students in the province of Sindh similarly found that while 74 percent of students could add two numbers, only 49 percent could subtract two numbers (PEACE 2010).


Source: World Bank Report on Education in South Asia 2014




The report relies upon numerous sources of data, among them key government data (such as Bangladesh’s Directorate of Primary Education; India’s National Sample Survey, District Information System of Education, and National Council of Education Research and Training Assessment; and Pakistan’s National Education Assessment System); data from nongovernmental entities (such as Pakistan’s Annual Status of Education Report, India’s Student Learning Study, and its Annual Status of Education Report); international agencies (such as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development [OECD] Programme for International Student Assessment [PISA] 2009+ for India; the World Bank Secondary Education Quality and Access Enhancement Project in Bangladesh); and qualitative studies undertaken for the report (such as examining decentralization reforms in Sri Lanka and Pakistan). The study also uses the World Bank Systems Approach for Better Education Results (SABER) framework to examine issues related to ECD, education finance, assessment systems, and teacher policies.

I hope that these reports serve as a wake-up call for political leaders and policymakers in South Asia to redouble their efforts with significant additional resource allocations of nutrition, education and healthcare.

Related Links:

Haq's Musings

South Asia Investor Review

Who's Better for Pakistan Human Development?

History of Literacy in Pakistan

Myths and Facts About Out-of-School Children in Pakistan

PISA, TIMSS Results Confirm Low Quality of Indian Education

India Shining, Bharat Drowning

Learning Levels and Gaps in Pakistan by Jishnu Das and Priyanka Pandey

Pasi Sahlberg on why Finland leads the world in education

CNN's Fixing Education in America-Fareed Zakaria

PISA's Scores 2011

Poor Quality of Education in South Asia

Infections Cause Low IQs in South Asia, Africa?

Peepli Live Destroys Western Myths About India

Learning Levels and Gaps in Pakistan by Jishnu Das and Priyanka Pandey

Pasi Sahlberg on why Finland leads the world in education

CNN's Fixing Education in America-Fareed Zakaria

PISA's Scores 2011

Poor Quality of Education in South Asia

Infections Cause Low IQs in South Asia, Africa?

Peepli Live Destroys Western Myths About India

PISA 2009Plus Results Report

21 comments:

samir sardana said...

Critical Thinking - In India - Hindoosthan ? Forget Race and Bias - and look at the BIG PICTURE ! Can a nation steeped in idolatory and superstition,have ANY critical thinking ?

Critical Thinking requires wide exposure,to the world (to build the interface of sense perception) and an OPEN,CURIOUS AND QUESTIONING mind - which is ABSENT in the land of Hindoosthan !

America is the land of the free - which is "freedom of sentience" - which brings about freedom of conscience and freedom of thought and then speech and lastly actions.BLM,Antifa ......etc.,are manifestations of that freedom - and mere exposure to these ideologies and philosophies - brings about evolution,of the conscience.

That is Y the USA is the superpower,and is the magnet for talent,from all over the world. That "so called talent", would fail in their own nation - but they "so called excel",in the USA - because of the umbrella of freedom,of conscience,sentience,thought,speech and action.

Indians pray to monkeys,rats and idols which drink milk ! People say - so what ? That is just a time pass activity - which has no impact on cogitative thought.

Till the Mughals came in,Indians used leaves to clean up the ablutions and did not think of the "sitting toilet". But then people say,Indians were slaves then.

Just a few years ago - some gems of critical thinking !

That Indians had aeroplanes 50000 years ago - but did NOT use them,when Ghazni came in !

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2019/02/hindu-nationalists-claim-ancient-indians-had-airplanes-stem-cell-technology-and

That India had the internet - 50000 years ago

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-43806078

But people say - these are just jesters,from the clown show of Modi.

Then we have this MINISTER who recites vedic hymns for farming - and there is no need for water or fertilisers !

https://thewire.in/agriculture/goa-agriculture-minister-wants-farmers-to-chant-vedic-mantra-to-boost-yield

And then there is the magic cow piss cola, for COVID CURE !

https://www.republicworld.com/india-news/general-news/gaumutra-antidote-to-coronavirus-claim-slammed-by-pramod-krishnam-in.html

Can these clowns make Nukes or BMDs ! What if they all fail on D-Day - which they will - Inshallah !

The Biggest CON of CRITICAL THINKING IS CHAIWALA MODI ! Remember just 5 things !

Rs 15 lacs in each account
Doubling Farmers income in 10 years
Demonetisation
Make In India
GST

Long ago GANDHI reckoned the worth of the Indians,as a race and which has been used by Indian educationists,to great effect - and which has given Indians an edge,in global employment markets !

Even Gandhi said that Indians are fit,to clean toilets

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-debate/indias-dirty-secret-modi-goes-where-gandhi-failed/article20512705/

Which is Y Indian teachers make Indian students,clean toilets in schools !

http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/tamil-nadu-principal-forces-girl-students-to-clean-toilets-nhrc-sends-notice-to-govt/article1-1359844.aspx
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/dehradun/No-sweepers-at-govt-schools-so-kids-made-to-clean-toilets/articleshow/47870225.cms
http://www.financialexpress.com/article/industry/jobs/tamil-nadu-schoolgirls-made-to-clean-toilet-nhrc-for-action-against-head-mistress-may-offer-rs-25000-relief/86379/
http://www.ibnlive.com/videos/india/kashmir-school-626653.html

And that is Y I respect Gandhi.dindooohindoo

Gandhi UNLOCKED his brain only AFTER he left Hindoosthan - just like Nehru and Ambedar - which tells the story !





SAMIR SARDANA said...

The Key Punchline "Buried inside the bad news is a glimmer of what could be considered hope for Pakistan's grade 5 and 8 students outperforming their counterparts in India."

Y ?

Pakistani students are taught that Allah is formless and unseen,that the earth is a sphere, that the earth rotates and revolves, that the moon rotates around the earth,that the sun is fixed,and the light of the moon is the reflection of the sun.

This is the START of scientific temper !

And what do the Indians think ? That the earth is flat and fixed,that the sun rotates around the earth,that the moon has its own light,that the North Pole is in Bihar,that there is a race of Soorya Vanshis (descended from the Sun-God) and Chandra Vanshis (descended from the Moon-God) - and both these vanshis were wiped out by the Mughals.

According to the Vedas, the earth is static and this statement is repeated several times. The following are some of the examples:

1. Oh Man ! He who made the trembling earth static is Indra. (Rig Ved 2/12/12)
2. The God who made the earth stable (Yajur Ved 32/6)
3. Indra protects the wide earth which is immovable and has many forms (Atarv Ved 12/1/11)
4. Let us walk on the Wide and Static earth (Atharv Ved 12/1/17)

As the Vedas Claim that the earth is static and so,THEREFORE,they tried to prove that the sun moves around the earth.

The following statement from the Rig Veda, tries to clarify it:

“Sun is full of light and knows all the human beings, so his horses take him to sky to look at the world” (Rig Ved 1/50/1)
“O, Bright sun, a chariot named harit with seven horses takes you to sky” (Rig Ved 1/50/8)
“O, man, the sun who is most attractive, takes round of the earth, on his golden chariot through the sky and removes the darkness of the earth” (Yajur Ved 33/43)

That is Y India was pillaged,for AT LEAST 2000 years.

The story of life is the Priori and Transcendental Truths of the Torah,Talmud and Koran - all else is man made knowledge - full of constraints and tautologies.All of the second part can be acquired at any stage of life.The sooner a human grasps the Priori Truths of Life - the sooner the sentience awakens.

Finding reason in abstractions of theology and philosophy,is infinitely more complex than cracking the logic of science.If you ask the basic questions to a scientist - it will all ULTIMATELY lead to some abstract thoughts and giant leaps of conjecture and deduction.

The Genius, from Ghazali to the Ottomans and the Pakistan N-Program and AQ Khan - all starts from 1 basic thesis - question all and anything - except the existence of Allah or by whatever other name called (As a mathematical constant).All else is man made - and can be wrong.dindooohindoo

Riaz Haq said...

#Indian-descent #Americans are taking over #US, jokes Biden. #Biden's remarks are being described as "head-turning" and "tone-deaf". He told #NASA's Mars Project Manager Swati Mohan: "We (in US) give people an opportunity to let their dreams run forward" http://toi.in/7kwWGZ/a24gk


Swati Mohan came to the United States when she was just one year old and grew up and studied in America.

Bilal said...

The comparison between Pakistan and India in educational performance (i.e., Maths skills) seems misleading. The same World Bank report shows large differences in enrollment rates between South Asian countries (p. 10) so there is inevitably a selection effect here. India does a better job at matriculating poorer students, whose educational attainment will be associated with lower scores.

Bilal said...

China experienced gains in the country's average IQ between 1988 and 2006 from 94,8 British mean to 109,8. China only allows testing in more prosperous regions so I doubt the actual figure is this high, but this shows an ostensible link between educational attainment and economic development.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0191886918303301

Riaz Haq said...

Bilal: "China experienced gains in the country's average IQ between 1988 and 2006 from 94,8 British mean to 109,8"

This is called Lynn Effect.

BTW, An average Pakistani's IQ is a couple of points higher that that of an average Indian. That may account for difference in performance on tests.

https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/average-iq-by-country


Riaz Haq said...

Bilal: "The same World Bank report shows large differences in enrollment rates between South Asian countries"

According to the World Bank, the gross primary enrollment rates in India are about the same: India 97%, Pakistan 95%


https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.PRM.ENRR?locations=IN-PK

Bilal said...

I do not doubt the validity of IQ scores. But I would be skeptical of cross-national IQ comparisons due to lack of available data. Richard Lynn, who is the primary person responsible for establishing these national IQ scores admits in his books that he often gives the same IQ to countries based on what their neighbours have attained. In some cases, he has used the score of child refugees of a certain African country who reside in Spain and attributed this score to the country. If I recall correctly, Afghanistan and Pakistan were given the same score based on one administered IQ test taken in the 1980s because of ethnic covariation.

I suspect that there is lots of regional variation in South Asia in general due to the caste system which established social differences in society. Incidentally, I have seen a study which showed virtually insignificant differences between castes in IQ but I'm not sure how the variations would map onto society: the strong educational performance of South Asian immigrants indicate that there is broad levels of talent from the region. Also note: consanguinity has a presence stronger in Pakistan than anywhere else and has shown to reduce IQ in various studies. One was done in Indian occupied Kashmir, where they found that the differences between those who had parents that married as cousins versus those whose parents were unrelated showed a full standard deviation difference in IQ. This persisted when controlled for socioeconomic status.

In the US, Indian immigrants appear to do better. Both countries immigrants perform very positively relative to the population; the only IQ score I have seen is of Indian Americans who are purported to have an average IQ of 111; this is above every other group in the US. Between Pakistanis and Indians, the latter do better in income (albeit Pakistanis also do really well). I don't know if this is because of the median age difference or because there was a higher proportion of low skilled immigrants coming from Pakistan, but it would be interesting to investigate this. In Britain, Indians do decidedly worse. But this is probably because Pakistanis come from Mirpur who have high rates of cousin marriages while British Indians have a lot more recent immigrants who were selected based on higher skills. The Punjabis in London have shown to have stronger GCSE performances than Indians in some regions.

Riaz Haq said...

Bilal: "...Afghanistan and Pakistan were given the same score based on one administered IQ test taken in the 1980s because of ethnic covariation..."

Row 25 gives an IQ of 84 for adolescents at schools in Pakistan in the region of Islamabad. The comparison group is 707 European children in Canada reported in the same study. Row 26 gives an IQ of 84 for children in Pakistan obtained from nine schools around Karachi representing poor and affluent areas.

25 Pakistan 15 349 GEFT 84 Alvi et al., 1986
26 Pakistan 6-8 140 SPM 84 Rahman et al., 2002

---------------

Rows 1 through 13 give twelve results for various locations in India lying in the range between 78 and 88 and with a median of 82.

1 India 5-11 1,339 CPM 88 Gupta & Gupta, 1966
2 India 14-17 1,359 SPM 87 Chopra, 1966
3 India 12-14 5,607 CPM 81 Sinha, 1968
4 India 5-10 1,050 CPM 82 Rao & Reddy, 1968
5 India 15 3,536 SPM 84 Majumdar & Nundi, 1971
6 India 10-16 180 SPM 79 Mohanty & Babu, 1983
7 India 13 100 SPM 78 Agrawal et al., 1984
8 India 9-12 748 WISC- 79 Afzal, 1988
55
R
9 India 5-12 500 CPM 86 Bhogle & Prakash, 1992
10 India 11-15 569 SPM 82 Raven et al, 1996
11 India 7-11 828 CPM 80 Barnabus et al., 1995
12 India 7-15 8,040 SPM 88 Raven et al., 2000


Source: Richard Lynn
RACE DIFFERENCES IN INTELLIGENCE


https://lesacreduprintemps19.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/lynn-race-differences-in-intelligence.pdf

samir sardana said...

The Analysis is a Big Picture snapshot of an aggregate block of humans using statistical tools on a stratified basis.This will involve assumptions,constants,approximations ......

Bottom line is that the largest aggregation of humans is NOT by race by RELIGION.Religion is a thought process and a daily action plan which can change the IQ and DNA of a human,over centuries.

No Religion is also a Religion and Animism is also a religion - which has its own impact on cogitation,philosophy and thought process.

Therefore atheism and agnosticism will,on all parameters yield the highest IQ and Eco development - as data will show.And this because,the humans in those RACES and NATIONS are trained and INTUITIVELY inclined to challenge and question every thing,from Day 1 !

There will be exceptions,like in Persia and Turkey - where RELIGION has TO BE CONJOINED WITH RACE.

Intuitively and otherwise,religion and its values,morals,mores,beliefs,cultures,practices etc.,defines and dictates the boundaries and contours of human thought and creativity

And no statistician will do an analysis,on the link to Religion or shall we say, Religiosity ! dindooohindoo

samir sardana said...

Lest the Pakistanis or Asians think that they are inferior to the Indians and their education system - I bring to them,the lamp of light - glowing in the dark,with the illumination,of the Transcendental Truth.

The Indian Education Revolution - Part 1 - Magic of Rs 100 (Which is all it takes)

http://www.ndtv.com/india-news/s-h-a-k-s-p-e-a-r-in-bihar-this-examiner-is-grading-english-test-papers-752800?pfrom=home-lateststories

THE STUDENT HAS PASTED A 2 USD BILL INTO THE EXAM ANSWER SHEET !! TO BRIBE THE EXAMINER IN ANTICIPATION AND EXPECTATION ! This is Bihar,the land of knowledge and light - of The Buddha and others !

The Indian Education Revolution - Part 2 - Mind-Body Dualism and Team work in Cheating !

http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/over-1000-impersonators-held-during-police-recruitment-in-bihar/
http://news.yahoo.com/paper-planes-parents-help-indian-pupils-outsmart-state-080150081.html
http://qz.com/366323/the-weird-economics-of-indian-parents-who-climb-walls-to-help-their-kids-cheat/

WATCH THIS VIDEO ! SEE THE BRAZENESS AND THE INNOVATION OF THE INDIAN CHEATS !

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NCjxKJvom8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHXcrZA7DoI

0.15 - 0.26 - OPEN CHEATING !!
0.27 - 1.13 - WATCH THE INDIANS CLIMBING WALLS AND THROWING CHEAT SLIPS !!
1.13 - 2.45 - SEE THE BEST PRACTICES ON HOW TO CHEAT ! dindooohindoo

Riaz Haq said...

India's re-entry to PISA triggers mixed response

https://www.devex.com/news/india-s-re-entry-to-pisa-triggers-mixed-response-94286


Anit Mukherjee, a policy fellow focusing on education at the Center for Global Development, told Devex that by having Kendriya Vidyalayas and Navodaya Vidyalayas schools take part in the test, the government is trying to have more control over the sample in the hopes of getting a better score. However, he said this is not unusual and that other countries have done the same.

“Learning outcome measurement across the world against a global benchmark is good … I would rather have India going to PISA in some way which is acceptable to both the government in India and OECD than to sit outside, otherwise we don’t have any comparator,” he said.

But even with its best government schools being tested, India is still likely to come near the bottom of the PISA table, according to Jishnu Das, education economist at the World Bank's Development Research Group. This won’t come as a surprise to the government, which is already aware of declining education scores over the past decade thanks to school assessments conducted by education research nonprofit ACER India, he said.

As a result, PISA may have limited value as the test has been most effective when its results have surprised a government — with “PISA shock” forcing them to institute education reforms, he said. This happened in Germany in 2001 and in Peru in 2012.

“PISA made a big difference in Germany, it really woke them up, but ... India is not going to be shocked when it comes near the bottom,” Das said. He added that “these international things cause some embarrassment in international circles but they [don’t] impact the discussion in India at all.”

A better method would be to apply PISA in each Indian state and rank them against each other, which would create more “debate and discussion,” he suggested.

India’s decision to rejoin a prestigious global education ranking has been welcomed by education experts as a positive signal, but some questioned whether the move will bring about meaningful reform.

In January, the Indian government announced its plan to rejoin the Program for International Student Assessment, or PISA, after a 10-year absence. The country dropped out of the ranking, run by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, in 2009 after being placed 72nd out of 74 nations.

India was competing against high-income OECD member countries but also non-OECD countries including Brazil, China, Thailand, Indonesia, and Vietnam. The government claimed the test was unfair because it had not been sufficiently adapted to the Indian context.

OECD and India have now agreed to try again and a group of 15-year-olds from schools across Chandigarh, the capital of the northern Indian states of Punjab and Haryana, will be evaluated by PISA examiners in 2021. India wants pupils from its system of central government schools, known as Kendriya Vidyalayas and Navodaya Vidyalayas, to take the test.

The government has said that participating in PISA will help to assess the health of its education system, motivate schools and states to do better, and improve learning levels across the country. The test will also move India away from rote learning toward more “competency-based examination reforms,” according to a press release issued for the official signing ceremony last month.


Riaz Haq said...

Cambridge International students excel in top Pakistan university entrance tests

https://www.cambridgeinternational.org/news/news-details/view/cambridge-international-students-excel-in-top-pakistan-university-entrance-tests-20210202/


Results from entrance tests at three top Pakistan universities have revealed that Cambridge International students perform exceptionally well and secure places on the courses they want to study at university.

Recent newspaper reports in Pakistan revealed the results of the competitive entrance tests for NED, Dawood and Karachi Universities, which students took between October and December 2020. They found almost 80% of Cambridge students passed the entrance tests for NED and Karachi Universities, and that rose to 100% pass rate, for Cambridge students sitting the Dawood University tests.

The results published by the universities themselves showed, of the 9,290 students taking the NED University entrance test exam, 54% could pass the test. Out of these, 552 were Cambridge students, and of those 78% passed the test.

The results were similar for Cambridge students sitting the Karachi University test. A total of 8,983 students took the test, of which almost 30% passed it. This pass rate rose to 80% when looking at the results of just the Cambridge students who took the test.

And in the Dawood University entrance test results, all 22 Cambridge students passed. The overall pass rate of the 2,809 students taking the test was just over 60%.

The results confirm that Cambridge qualifications, particularly Cambridge International AS and A Level, are good preparation for higher education, equipping students with the skills and knowledge they need to succeed at university and in their future careers.

It is also very encouraging to see that Cambridge students are doing so well in the highly competitive local universities entrance tests, as about 90% of Cambridge students in Pakistan go to local universities for higher studies.

To ensure the impacts of Covid-19, do not prevent Cambridge students from pursuing their further education plans, we have been working closely with the Federal Ministry of Education and Training in Pakistan. Together we have provided students with the help and support they need to enable them to progress with their education as planned. Subsequently, the Inter Board Committee of Chairmen (IBCC) confirmed that grades from the Cambridge International’s June 2020 series would be accepted by Pakistan universities in the same way as those from other exam series.

Cambridge International programmes help students to broaden their outlook, build life-long skills and instil principles and values deemed vital to help them succeed in further education and their future careers. Our programmes encourage learners to become confident, responsible, reflective, innovative, and engaged. Our curriculum and assessments are designed with these learner attributes in mind.

Ahmed said...


Dear Sir

Thank you for sharing such useful information, Sir did Pakistani students participate in this international assessment test? If they did then how good was their performance?

Can you pls throw some light on this?

Regards,

Riaz Haq said...

#Indian #Education Paper Brands Pythagorean Theorem 'Fake', Newton's Apple Story 'Propaganda'. #Karnataka's team, which has submitted its 'Position paper on Knowledge of India', even claimed that Gravity & Pythagoras have roots in Vedic (#Hindu) math https://sputniknews.com/20220711/indian-state-education-paper-brands-pythagorean-theorem-fake-newtons-apple-story-propaganda-1097170148.html

The federal education ministry has asked every state to submit proposal papers, which should be included in the school curriculum.
The Indian state of Karnataka has stoked a new controversy by claiming that the Pythagorean theorem and Newton's Theory of Gravity are "Eurocentric" concepts.
The state's school authorities have described the world-famous theorem as "fake news" and the apple falling on Newton's head and other issues to be "created and propagated".
Karnataka's primary and secondary education team, which has submitted its 'Position paper on Knowledge of India', even claimed that Gravity and Pythagoras have roots in Vedic math (Between 1500 BC and 600 BC in India). This is an Indic-centered approach."

The copy of the position papers submitted to the federal government reads: "Encouraging an attitude of questioning and not merely accepting whatever the textbooks (or print/electronic/social media) say as infallible truth, with a clear foundation of how knowledge generation takes place and how fake news such as Pythagoras theorem, an apple falling on Newton's head etc. are created and propagated."
Madan Gopal, chairman of the task force for Karnataka's Primary and Secondary Education Department, said that a lot of information is available on the internet to back his claim.

"Many of the theorems are debated in all international forums," Gopal said, according to the Indian news website, India Today. "Debate is part of evolving scientific temper. Accepting blindly is not correct, in my view. Let there be debate. Let there be discussions. Let there be scientific evidence and archaeological evidence."
Meanwhile, the position paper on Language education focuses on the need to learn ancient and classical languages such as Sanskrit, Persian and Pali.
In order to learn the concepts of solar eclipses and the solar system, it refers to the story of 'Taittirīya Saṁhitā' (branch of India's old school, prevalent in South India), where the Moon is said to have 27 wives, with whom he spends one night each.

Riaz Haq said...

Infosys founder NR Narayana Murthy says IITs have become victims to rote learning due to coaching classes


https://www.timesnownews.com/business-economy/companies/infosys-founder-nr-narayana-murthy-says-iits-have-become-victims-to-rote-learning-due-to-coaching-classes-article-95545869

As more and more students leave India for higher studies, Infosys founder Narayana Murthy proposed that governments and corporates should “incentivise” researchers with grants and provide facilities to work here. “The 10,000 crore per year grants for universities under the New Education Policy will help institutions become competitive", he said.


https://youtu.be/2vzSwExIoNg

Infosys founder NR Narayana Murthy on Tuesday expressed concern over India’s education system saying that even the IITs are becoming a victim of learning by rote due to the “tyranny of coaching classes.” Murthy suggested that our education system needs a reorientation directed towards Socratic questioning.
The Infosys founder, who himself is an IIT alumnus, batted for Socratic questioning in the classroom in order to arrive at solutions to real-world issues. “Many experts feel that (in) our country, (there is an) inability to use research to solve our immediate pressing problems around us… (this) is due to lack of inculcating curiosity at an early age, disconnect between pure or applied research," he said.

As to what could be done to solve this, the 76-year-old suggested that the first component is to reorient teaching in schools and colleges towards Socratic questioning in the classroom to solve real-world problems rather than passing the examinations by rote learning. Socrates was a fifth century (BCE) Greek philosopher credited as the founder of Western philosophy.
Speaking at the 14th edition of the Infosys Prize event in Bengaluru, Murthy said that the nation’s progress on the economic and social front depends on the quality of scientific and technological research. Research thrives in an environment of honour and respect for intellectuals, meritocracy and the support and approbation of such intellectuals from society, he noted.

Riaz Haq said...

Education system leading India down the hole - The Hans India
https://www.thehansindia.com/hans/opinion/news-analysis/education-system-leading-india-down-the-hole-692943
Jun 28, 2021 — India was placed at 59th rank among 64 countries in education. They have also said that youth unemployment increased from 10.4 percent to 23.0 ...


Learning poverty: Education crisis in India - Sentinelassam
https://www.sentinelassam.com/editorial/learning-poverty-education-crisis-in-india-569438


Revamp of Indian learning needed, says Narayana Murthy
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/information-tech/infosys-founder-narayana-murthy-bats-for-revamp-of-indian-education-system/articleshow/95528265.cms
Nov 15, 2022 — A reorientation of the Indian education system is needed which is more directed towards Socratic questioning other than just rote learning, according to Infosys Founder NR Narayana Murthy.

"The first component is to reorient our teaching in schools and colleges towards Socratic questioning, in the classroom to solve real world problems around them rather than passing the examinations by rote learning," said Murthy while speaking at the Infosys Prize announcement event in Bengaluru.

"Even our top institutions have become victims of this syndrome. Thanks to the tyranny of coaching classes," he said.

Ahmed said...

Dear Sir

Thank you for sharing such useful and informative post , sir according to this post :
————————————————
s. "We found that, as the students progress in their studies, their critical thinking skills remain approximately the same in Russia and India, but significantly decrease in China. On the contrary, American students show improvement," said Igor Chirikov. This is a serious problem, the researchers note, because technologies change rapidly, and in order to be able to master new ones, you need not only a firm grasp of the subject area, but, above all, skills of the 21st century".
—————————————

My comment :

Sir it says that as the students progressed in their studies which I think it means as the students moved forward in these international standard tests which measures the thinking ability of the students and their intelligence level along with knowledge , as these students move to next level of these tests , their critical thinking abilities either remain stagnant or decrease . But the students of America showed great improvement as they moved forward to next level of these tests , sir the question is that in case of American students ,do they here refer to white American students or it refers to also the students of immigrant parents of other countries who are living in America ?

Thanks

Ahmed said...

Dear Sir

Thanks for sharing this index about average IQ of different nations , sir what is intelligence capital index? Sir when I checked the rankings of both India and Pakistan in this index . Pakistan is at number 120 and India is at number 143 .

It shows that IQ of average people of Pakistan is higher than that of Indians but when I saw the difference of both countries in Intelligence Capital Index , in this index India has much better ranking than Pakistan .

Sir how is it so ?




Riaz Haq said...

Over 50% of #India's children can not read by age 10. Can India educate its vast workforce? #Education for most Indians is still at best unskilled. #Unemployed youngsters risk bringing India’s #economic development to a premature stop. #Modi #BJP https://www.economist.com/leaders/2023/06/29/can-india-educate-its-vast-workforce

https://twitter.com/haqsmusings/status/1674441854136512513?s=20

As the rich world and China grow older, India’s huge youth bulge—some 500m of its people are under 20—should be an additional propellant. Yet as we report, although India’s brainy elite hoovers up qualifications, education for most Indians is still a bustUnskilled, jobless youngsters risk bringing India’s economic development to a premature stop.

India has made some strides in improving the provision of services to poor people. Government digital schemes have simplified access to banking and the distribution of welfare payments. Regarding education, there has been a splurge on infrastructure. A decade ago only a third of government schools had handwashing facilities and only about half had electricity; now around 90% have both. Since 2014 India has opened nearly 400 universities. Enrolment in higher education has risen by a fifth.

Yet improving school buildings and expanding places only gets you so far. India is still doing a terrible job of making sure that the youngsters who throng its classrooms pick up essential skills. Before the pandemic less than half of India’s ten-year-olds could read a simple story, even though most of them had spent years sitting obediently behind school desks (the share in America was 96%). School closures that lasted more than two years have since made this worse.

There are lots of explanations. Jam-packed curriculums afford too little time for basic lessons in maths and literacy. Children who fail to grasp these never learn much else. Teachers are poorly trained and badly supervised: one big survey of rural schools found a quarter of staff were absent. Officials sometimes hand teachers unrelated duties, from administering elections to policing social-distancing rules during the pandemic.

Such problems have led many families to send their children to private schools instead. These educate about 50% of all India’s children. They are impressively frugal, but do not often produce better results. Recently, there have been hopes that the country’s technology industry might revolutionise education. Yet relying on it alone is risky. In recent weeks India’s biggest ed-tech firm, Byju’s, which says it educates over 150m people worldwide and was once worth $22bn, has seen its valuation slashed because of financial troubles.

All this makes fixing government schools even more urgent. India should spend more on education. Last year the outlays were just 2.9% of gdp, low by international standards. But it also needs to reform how the system works by taking inspiration from models elsewhere in developing Asia.

As we report, in international tests pupils in Vietnam have been trouncing youngsters from much richer countries for a decade. Vietnam’s children spend less time in lessons than Indian ones, even when you count homework and other cramming. They also put up with larger classes. The difference is that Vietnam’s teachers are better prepared, more experienced and more likely to be held accountable if their pupils flunk.

With the right leadership, India could follow. It should start by collecting better information about how much pupils are actually learning. That would require politicians to stop disputing data that do not show their policies in a good light. And the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party should also stop trying to strip textbooks of ideas such as evolution, or of history that irks Hindu nativists. That is a poisonous distraction from the real problems. India is busy constructing roads, tech campuses, airports and factories. It needs to build up its human capital, too.

Riaz Haq said...

The State of Global
Learning Poverty:
2022 Update


CONFERENCE EDITION
June 23, 2022

Annex 5: Detailed 2019 country learning poverty data

Country Name Learning Poverty Learning Deprivation Schooling Deprivation Year Assessment Assessment


Iceland 9.3 6.8 2.7 2006 PIRLS
India 56.1 53.7 5.1 2017 NLA
Indonesia 52.8 49.4 6.8 2015 TIMSS
Iran, Islamic Rep 35.2 35.1 0.2 2016 PIRLS


Norway 6.0 5.8 0.2 2016 PIRLS
Oman 41.8 40.9 1.4 2016 PIRLS
Pakistan 77.0 65.0 34.2 2014 NLA

https://thedocs.worldbank.org/en/doc/e52f55322528903b27f1b7e61238e416-0200022022/original/Learning-poverty-report-2022-06-21-final-V7-0-conferenceEdition.pdf