Long delays in supplying textbooks to Slovak schools will translate into less than positive assessments of the quality of education and the skills of Slovak students in the years to come, Education Minister Eugen Jurzyca of the Slovak Democratic and Christian Union party (SDKÚ) told the TASR newswire in response to the latest results released by the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA).
The recently published PISA results showed that 15-year-old Slovak students lag behind their counterparts in 60 countries when it comes to reading and natural sciences. Slovakia was placed 61st among 65 countries in these categories, although improvements have been seen in mathematics, with Slovakia beating its V4 neighbours (Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic) in this subject.
"Some students haven't been provided with textbooks for three consecutive school years," noted Jurzyca. "This isn't good. Maths has improved, but the other parameters remain bad."
The ministry is already looking into how to improve reading skills in particular, said Jurzyca. "We're working on new methods to use to improve reading. But this isn't a day-to-day challenge," said the minister, who is a well-known critic of obsolete methods of teaching reading skills in schools. In particular, he wants to do away with the practice of reading aloud in classrooms, as it appears that students actually have no idea about the content of the texts that they are reading.
Source: TASR
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
