An international study of learning standards in 74 different nations has graded India at the bottom of the list, which calls for urgent changes in India’s education system. It has graded China at the top of the list.

Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA)

The study was organized by a Paris based Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). It was for the first time that India took part in the study named Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). India took part in a pilot project which was restricted to Tamil Nadu and Himachal Pradesh.

Does it represent the whole country?

The observations made by the study are important as it has come during a period when India is putting efforts to improve education and enhancing the skills of the workforce. If the findings from the two states represent the whole of the country, then India’s long term competitiveness may be in doubt.

Previous studies

Both Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh have been on the top of the list on human development parameters and are believed to be among the country’s most progressive states. The India Human Development Report 2011 has placed these states in the median state category, which is way above the national average. The report was developed by the Institute of Applied Manpower Research (IAMR), an autonomous arm of the planning commission of India.

In the case of literacy, Himachal Pradesh secured 4th rank and Tamil Nadu secured 11th rank. This grading was made in the National Family Health Survey published in 2007. But in the study organized by Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), PISA, Tamil Nadu was just able to secure 72 and Himachal Pradesh 74, just ahead of Kyrgyzstan in mathematics and overall reading skills.

The OECD ranking

The list was topped by Shanghai in all the three categories- overall reading skills, mathematical and scientific literacy. Shanghai is a metropolis in the eastern part of China.

PISA an international study was started in 2000, which aims to evaluate the education system across the world by testing the skills and knowledge of 15 year old children in the participating countries. It is obvious that there are some reservations about the findings of the study. Such a ranking may not be fair as the participants in the study are not equals, according to Manish Sabharwal, CEO Teamlease services Pvt. Ltd. Teamlease services Pvt. Ltd operates in the human resource training and placement domain. But still it acts as a timely warning.

The problem that the industry faces

The industries in India are currently facing problem with the poor quality of graduates from different higher educational institutions in India. Mr. Manish Says that we need to repair and prepare. Skill training should be adopted in the process of repair and preparation should be made by improving the school system.

The condition in the schools

In the state of Tamil Nadu, only 17 per cent of the students were estimated to have proficiency in reading which is at or above the baseline needed to be effective and productive in life. In the case of Himachal Pradesh, this level is 11 per cent.

This being the case in India, the comparison is made with 81 per cent of the students who perform at or above the baseline level in reading in the participating countries on an average.

Put in other words, only a few more than one out of six students in Tamil Nadu and about one out of ten students in Himachal Pradesh are in line with the OECD average. The condition of mathematics and science literacy is no different from this.

What experts say?

According to Anurag Behar, Chief Executive of the Azim Premji Foundation, the results of the study are worrying. It is a matter of grave concern because the PISA study has observed that only 12 per cent of the students in Himachal Pradesh and 15 per cent of students in Tamil Nadu were capable in Maths as against an OECD average of 75 per cent. In the case of scientific literacy among the students of class 10, only 16 per cent of students in Tamil Nadu and 11 per cent of students in Himachal Pradesh were capable, while the OECD average proficiency was 82 per cent.

In Malaysia, 56 per cent of the students were capable in reading and 41 per cent of them were capable in Mathematics. Similar is the case with United Arab Emirates, where 49 per cent of them were proficient in mathematics and 60 per cent of them were proficient in mathematics. As in the case of India, both these countries participated in the study for the first time.

According to Mr. Behar, there is an urgent need for a complete change of India’s teacher education system and a transformation from memorizing learning- driven school education to understanding-driven curricula. He noted that there is a need to reduce the policy implementation gap. The minister for education in Tamil Nadu says that the education system is good.

The minister says that the state has recruited 56,000 teachers in the last five years. He said that no other states have offered to provide laptops to students, referring to the free laptop scheme for students which were a part of the election campaign claims. The minister claims that they provide incentives to students at different levels of school and says that they are taking steps to improve the existing system.

The Minister for Education in Himachal Pradesh too defended the education system in the state. He claimed that the enrolment rate in schools have reached 99.3 per cent. He points out that they might have taken samples from the rural areas and that might be the reason for such a low score. He added that they have started to hire better qualified teachers to improve the teaching process.

According to Vipul Prakash, MD, Elixir Consulting, the study may not be on a comparison between equal forces. He says that if we look at the entire work force, there may be a lack of quality, but the top 10 per cent in India will be the best in the world. And this 10 per cent will make a large number which will give India a competitive advantage.