4 Corfu schools chosen to take part in Greek version of PISA programme
PISA
26 Apr 2023
/ 19:53
CORFU. Reactions from the educational community due to the categorisation of schools.
The Ministry of Education's decision to carry out for another year this programme, which is also known as the Greek PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) and concerns pupils in the last year of primary and junior high school, caused reactions in the Corfu educational community.
A primary school principal from Corfu expressed his opposition to this procedure that categorises, as he said, the schools and stated his intention to abstain from his duties on the day of the tests that are set to take place throughout the country on Wednesday 10 May.
600 primary and secondary schools were selected to participate as a representative sample of the total number of schools in the country, amongst which are 15 schools from the Ionian Islands, with 4 of them being from Corfu. These are the 9th Primary School, the Ag. Markos Primary School and the Karousades and Agros High Schools with more than 60 pupils participating in the exams.
However, the implementation of this programme, for which the selected schools were only informed on Monday 24 April, has caused a reaction.
Speaking to Enimerosi, the 9th Primary School Principal Elias Bourgoutzis expressed his opposition to the categorisation of schools and their comparison in dissimilar conditions, noting that the process is of no benefit and that solutions should first be found for other issues that concern the schools, such as sufficient teaching staff, psychologists, etc. He said that he would abstain from his duties that day as part of the strike, which the teachers' unions are expected to call in order to prevent the tests from taking place.
What the Ministry of Education says
According to the Ministry of Education, the aim of the programme is to assess pupils' performance and abilities in modern Greek language and mathematics, in order to draw conclusions on the progress of the curricula and whether the expected learning results have been achieved.
Undermining learning
However, teachers are stressing that the programme is categorising schools, it is undermining learning and also leads to a reduction in the teaching of what is tested, distorting the reality of schools. On top of that, Greece is the only country in the world that has included such young pupils in this programme, as apart from the secondary school pupils, primary school pupils will also participate.
"Teachers are being pressured to stop teaching based on the real educational and psychosocial needs of their pupils and make their classroom a tutorial school. But let us also speak paedagogically. They lead pupils to perceive with even greater emphasis, and at a young age, failure in exams as their own failure and to accept the position for which they are destined by education as a mechanism for the reproduction of class society," the President of Corfu Primary Teachers Union Antonis Koursaris told Enimerosi. He also said that these exams are treating all children as equal and the same, when in fact they are unequal and different and neither they nor their schools can be compared.
Mandatory
The participation of the schools selected in the programme is mandatory, while they were selected with a stratified sampling procedure. The exams are being carried out in accordance with the law passed in the summer of 2021 on education.
The programme was implemented last year in 300 primary and 300 secondary schools across the country as a pilot one. Pupils will be tested in Greek language and mathematics, while the test results will be anonymous and they will not be taken into account by teachers when assessing pupils' performance in these subjects.
A primary school principal from Corfu expressed his opposition to this procedure that categorises, as he said, the schools and stated his intention to abstain from his duties on the day of the tests that are set to take place throughout the country on Wednesday 10 May.
600 primary and secondary schools were selected to participate as a representative sample of the total number of schools in the country, amongst which are 15 schools from the Ionian Islands, with 4 of them being from Corfu. These are the 9th Primary School, the Ag. Markos Primary School and the Karousades and Agros High Schools with more than 60 pupils participating in the exams.
However, the implementation of this programme, for which the selected schools were only informed on Monday 24 April, has caused a reaction.
Speaking to Enimerosi, the 9th Primary School Principal Elias Bourgoutzis expressed his opposition to the categorisation of schools and their comparison in dissimilar conditions, noting that the process is of no benefit and that solutions should first be found for other issues that concern the schools, such as sufficient teaching staff, psychologists, etc. He said that he would abstain from his duties that day as part of the strike, which the teachers' unions are expected to call in order to prevent the tests from taking place.
What the Ministry of Education says
According to the Ministry of Education, the aim of the programme is to assess pupils' performance and abilities in modern Greek language and mathematics, in order to draw conclusions on the progress of the curricula and whether the expected learning results have been achieved.
Undermining learning
However, teachers are stressing that the programme is categorising schools, it is undermining learning and also leads to a reduction in the teaching of what is tested, distorting the reality of schools. On top of that, Greece is the only country in the world that has included such young pupils in this programme, as apart from the secondary school pupils, primary school pupils will also participate.
"Teachers are being pressured to stop teaching based on the real educational and psychosocial needs of their pupils and make their classroom a tutorial school. But let us also speak paedagogically. They lead pupils to perceive with even greater emphasis, and at a young age, failure in exams as their own failure and to accept the position for which they are destined by education as a mechanism for the reproduction of class society," the President of Corfu Primary Teachers Union Antonis Koursaris told Enimerosi. He also said that these exams are treating all children as equal and the same, when in fact they are unequal and different and neither they nor their schools can be compared.
Mandatory
The participation of the schools selected in the programme is mandatory, while they were selected with a stratified sampling procedure. The exams are being carried out in accordance with the law passed in the summer of 2021 on education.
The programme was implemented last year in 300 primary and 300 secondary schools across the country as a pilot one. Pupils will be tested in Greek language and mathematics, while the test results will be anonymous and they will not be taken into account by teachers when assessing pupils' performance in these subjects.
