PISA study shows Canary Islands improving but still underperforming

The Canary Islands report significantly fewer pupils repeating a year than they did ten years ago. And yet the proportion of pupils repeating a year is significantly higher than the Spanish average. This is one of the findings of the latest PISA study.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has published the results of the international PISA study. The report indicates that the Canary Islands still have some catching up to do in their education system. However, the study also highlights some successes.

According to the latest analysis, just over one in four 15-year-old pupils in the Canary Islands has already had to repeat a year (27 per cent). In the PISA study ten years ago, the figure was 38 per cent. Natalia Álvarez is chair of the Canary Islands School Board. And she has an explanation for this:

The Canary Islands are strengthening their education system and teaching staff

According to Álvarez, teaching staff in particular are better trained today. However, the expert is also critical, particularly with regard to pupils who have to repeat a year. The Canary Islands are at the lower end of the scale. Only in Andalusia (28.8 per cent), La Rioja (28.6 per cent), the Valencian Community (28.6 per cent) and Aragon (27.8 per cent) do more pupils have to repeat a year.

The study also shows that pupils who did not have to repeat a year achieved significantly higher results. This means that repeating a school year alone does not guarantee the full success hoped for. Furthermore, the difference becomes clear when looking at the type of school: pupils at state schools are four times more likely to have to repeat a year than those at private schools.

However, experts also identify other factors. For example, José Saturnino Martínez, a sociologist at the University of La Laguna (ULL), says that the month of birth is a major factor. If a child is born in the last quarter of the year, this puts them at a developmental disadvantage compared to children born earlier in the year. This can amount to «almost an academic year», explains the researcher. Countries such as Germany allow for greater flexibility regarding school enrolment, which helps to offset any disadvantages linked to the month of birth.

Mere repetition is therefore not a stand-alone solution. The fact that pupils become more mature helps. However, the system must also be optimised to ensure a better education. At the ULL, for example, having two class teachers is seen as a good way of providing better support for children.

Is the digitisation of classrooms in the Canary Islands necessary?

But other issues are also being discussed. The association «Aixeca el cap», for example, is calling for screens to be banned from classrooms. «Pupils struggle with texts of more than 400 words,» reports the association, arguing that this is also linked to the heavy use of smartphones. It is therefore necessary, they say, to ban screens from the classroom as well.

This stands in contrast to the desire to digitise classrooms. However, the association is highly critical of this: «We base our views on scientific studies that are accessible to everyone, but it seems that the message is not really getting through to either the Department for Education or the government: screens do not promote learning; they distort it,» the association states. It adds: «We have been saying this for years, and the PISA tests are now proving it.»

Tue Halgreen confirms this only partially and indirectly. As the lead OECD analyst for the study, Halgreen said during the presentation that part of the decline in results was due to technological progress. However, he added that there were, above all, links to social changes. These, he said, had a greater impact than the specific education policies of the participating countries.

Spain, just like Germany, Austria and Switzerland, has recorded its worst result since the PISA study began. Spain’s highest score was achieved in 2015 with 496 points. This year, the figure was 451. Germany scored 509 points ten years ago and 465 this time. In Switzerland, the score was 509 in 2012 and 470 this time. Austria recorded its highest ever score of 507 in 2000. This time, the figure was 467.