The level of Flemish pupils’ attainment in reading, maths and science has never fallen by as much as it has in recent years. This is shown by the results of the latest PISA survey. Attainment levels have never been so low and they have also fallen much faster than in most of the other countries survey. Nevertheless, average attainment level in Flanders remain higher than in most other countries.
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Level of attainment among pupils in Flanders falls faster than ever
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Flemish pupils' attainment levels in reading, mathematics and science are declining sharply. There are only four countries (the Netherlands, Finland, Iceland and Greece) where long-term attainment levels for reading and science have fallen faster than in Flanders. As regards maths, attainment levels in just two countries are falling more quickly than they are here.
The downward trend of the past 20 years has accelerated in recent years. In all the areas examined attainment levels declined much more quickly in the last four years than in the previous period.
PISA survey
The PISA survey is the most important international comparative study on education. It is a survey conducted by the OECD on almost 5,000 15-year-old pupils from Flemish schools.
Every three years (This time it was 4 years because of the coronavirus crisis) pupils’ attainment in various areas, such as reading, writing and mathematics is examined.
Low achievers
The latest figures show that more than a fifth of pupils are so-called low achievers. In reading, almost a quarter of pupils are not up to the mark.
In 20 years, the number of low achievers has almost doubled in all subjects. For mathematics, the number of pupils failing to reach the basic level of competence in the subject rose from 11.4% to 22.4%.
Mathematics
In mathematics Flemish pupils score well. Globally our youngsters rank between 8th and 11th. Asian countries in particular score higher than Flanders. Within the EU only Estonian pupils score higher than Flemish pupils.
Despite the high level, the downward trend is worrying. In 2003 the level of Flemish pupils was the highest of all countries studied. A pupil in Flanders scored 553 points on average in 2003, today it is 501 points. Since 2018, the speed of the fall has increased. In 2018 Flemish pupils scored 518 points for maths, since then this has fallen to 501.
That is the number of pupils achieving the highest level in maths has more than halved since 2003, for mathematics in Flanders. In 2003 this was still 34.4% of pupils, in 2022 it this had fallen to 15%.
Reading and science
Our pupils also continue to do slightly better than average in reading and science.
In the short term, Flemish pupils' reading skills fell the most sharply of all skills. The PISA score for reading fell from 502 in 2018 to 483 in 2022. For sciences, the score fell from 499 to 491 during the same period.
Trend
The declining level in Flanders is not unique. The OECD average is falling and most European countries are doing worse than they were in the past. In the Netherlands, the downward trend in reading and science is even more pronounced than in Flanders.
The PISA results are in line with other major education quality surveys over the past 20 years Flanders.