SNS: Slovakia Heading in Opposite Direction to Top PISA Performers

Bratislava, 8 September (TASR) - Slovakia is heading in the opposite direction to countries at the top of the international PISA 2025 assessment of 15-year-old pupils, the coalition's Slovak National Party (SNS) claims. SNS has criticised the ongoing curriculum reform in primary schools as well as the approach to the use of information technology in teaching, SNS chairman's office director Zuzana Skopkova told TASR in response to the assessment results on Tuesday. The PISA 2025 results confirm the dominance of Asian education systems. Mainland China ranks first, followed by Singapore, Macao (China), Chinese Taipei and Japan. "The top five are therefore made up exclusively of Asian systems. It is clear that Asia is now among the world's education leaders," Skopkova said, adding that one possible explanation could be the emphasis on systematic and demanding education, high academic expectations and intensive pupil preparation. "According to SNS, this approach is somewhat at odds with the ongoing education reform in Slovakia, which, by contrast, places greater emphasis on simplifying education and 'lightening' the curriculum," she said. She also noted that, in the context of the long-term success of countries that rank highly in PISA, there is growing debate over the extent to which it is appropriate to rely on digital technologies in education. According to Skopkova, successful education systems in East Asian countries continue to place strong emphasis on traditional forms of learning, including reading books, working with textbooks and handwriting. A similar trend has recently been observed in Scandinavian countries, she said. Despite achieving better PISA results than Slovakia, these countries are reassessing their approach to the use of information technology in teaching. They are consequently increasing their use of traditional textbooks and conventional forms of learning, including handwriting, and allocating significant financial resources to them, according to Skopkova. "In SNS's view, Slovakia is heading in the opposite direction. Elements of artificial intelligence and digital technologies are gradually becoming part of education from the earliest years of schooling. The question therefore remains whether, when reforming Slovak education, we should draw more inspiration from systems that have consistently achieved the best results in international comparisons and pay greater attention to the basics — systematic learning, reading, writing, textbooks and high expectations of pupils' knowledge," Skopkova stressed. Slovakia's PISA 2025 results in mathematical literacy were slightly above the OECD average. Slovakia scored 469 points, compared with an OECD average of 463 points. In reading comprehension and science, Slovakia remains below the OECD average. A total of 91 countries and economies took part in the PISA 2025 international assessment. Based on its average score, Slovakia ranked 33rd. mf