The examination center does not have data on where Montenegro is in the PISA testing of fifteen-year-olds in comparison to their peers from 81 countries of the world, but it is again in the last part of the table, judging by the data presented today.
Montenegrin students are in 62nd place in scientific literacy, 56th in reading, and 54th in mathematics.
Students scored 406 points in mathematical literacy, 405 in reading, and 403 in science.
By way of comparison, Montenegrin students achieved better results in PISA 2018 - they had 421 points in reading literacy, 430 points in mathematics, and 415 points in science.
The average of member countries of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is 472 in mathematics, 476 in reading literacy and 485 points in science.
Of the countries in the region, students from Slovenia, Serbia and Croatia are better than Montenegrins. Students from Slovenia scored 485 points in mathematical literacy, 469 in reading, and 500 in science. Croatian students scored 463 in mathematical literacy, 475 in reading, and 483 in science. Students from Serbia performed best in scientific literacy, where they won 447 points, while they had 440 in mathematics and reading.
Montenegro did better than North Macedonia, Albania and Kosovo in all three segments of the PISA test. Macedonian students scored 388 points in math literacy, 359 in reading, and 380 in science.
Students from Albania scored 368 points in math literacy, 358 in reading, and 376 in science. Students from Kosovo scored 355 points in math literacy, 342 in reading, and 357 in science.
When asked by a journalist what is the final result of Montenegro, the director of the Examination Center, Miloš Trivić, claims that they did not receive this information from the OECD, which conducts this testing.
"We only have results for these three areas. We don't have an overall position yet. Only for areas," he said.
Trivić said that from April 4 to May 20 last year, according to international standards, according to the director of the Examination Center Miloš Trivić, the knowledge of 5.793 fifteen-year-old students from 63 schools was tested.
He said that for mathematics the level dropped to 406.
"In reading, the best result was in 2015, and now the result is bad, it is 405. In the field of science, there is the least oscillation, now that level is 403. The percentage of the least successful students below level two has increased," he said.
Trivić said that the level of boys and girls is the most different in reading.
Our advantages compared to the member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), says Trivić, are that students have psychological well-being, resistance to stress and difficulties...
"We see room for progress in academic success, but also in responsible action and engagement in society," he said.
Traditionally, the top achievers were XNUMX-year-olds from Singapore. Apart from them, students from Japan, Korea, Estonia, Switzerland, Canada also performed well on the PISA test... The worst ranked students were from Cambodia, Kosovo, Azerbaijan, Cyprus...
Bojović: Red alarm, we will determine what needs to be changed
State Secretary in the Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation Dragan Bojović said that social cohesion and unity can improve the results of Montenegrin students.
"The presented results set off a red alarm. Certain reforms had to be implemented in order to harmonize with our international partners and align with their educational systems. Some of these reforms were not implemented in the right way and do not produce results," Bojović said.
He emphasized that the Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation will start "examining educational subjects and determine what needs to be changed".
Bojović, answering the question of the "Vijesti" journalist, whether a specific plan will be implemented when it comes to improving the performance of students, said that the department is working on it.
"Even when new measures are adopted, they give results in a few years. They can only be changed in a few years. I mentioned the introduction of the NTC system. It is a new initiative that we will implement through the budget in order to train a number of teachers and educators to become lecturers of a new learning system that involves the development of cognitive and motor skills in children. PISA tests primarily refer to intelligence levels, then to everything else," said Bojović.
He said that the event at the end of the last school year, when one examination committee failed a certain number of students at the external graduation, and the other decided that they did not rewrite, is not a true picture of Montenegrin students.
"All children strive for some shortcuts to achieve the best possible result, perhaps under the pressure of society as a whole, but we have to make an effort to correct that. We are in the process of amending the regulations on the way children are tested and on the professional exam, where we will emphasize the responsibility of the administrator who conducts that testing "We will try to conduct the testing in an adequate way," said Bojović.
In December 2019, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) announced the results of the 2018 test. At that time, Montenegro was in 52nd place out of 79 participating countries. Of the countries of the former Yugoslavia, the best placed were Slovenia at 21st, Croatia at 29th, while Serbia took 45th place.
The Institute for Education previously told "Vijesta" that even then they started a series of activities that were supposed to improve the results of Montenegrin students on this test. Circumstances have changed due to the pandemic.
"...We cannot be optimistic about achieving a result that would satisfy our expectations and the efforts we have invested as the Institute for Education and the educational system as a whole", said the Institute for Education earlier, explaining that due to "the pandemic caused by the coronavirus, many spheres of social life were disrupted, "which conditioned the specific way of implementing the school curriculum in all countries of the world, including Montenegro".
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