With PISA-2018 we can now compare our educational system with educational systems all over the world – Liliya Hrynevych

In 2018 Ukraine will participate for the first time in PISA,  the Programme for International Student Assessment, conducted under the auspices of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Research takes place every three years and is aimed at evaluating education systems in different countries based on testing 15-year-old students. Liliya Hrynevych described this at an event to mark the accession of Ukraine to PISA-2018.

"PISA is an international comparative study that takes into account the huge number of criteria and factors that affect the education system as a whole. Through this programme we will get serious additional information that will help to identify the weaker and stronger points in our education system and build benchmarks, from which we will be able to formulate educational policy in Ukraine ", said Liliya Hrynevych

Yuri Belfari, Head of Division at the OECD Directorate for Education and Skills, stressed that PISA is a unique project because it allows us to quantify directly the competence of students independently of school syllabuses in reading, mathematics and natural sciences. The main task is to assess how students can apply their knowledge in real-life situations and become ready to fully participate in society.

Liliya Hrynevych spoke on how very important it is for Ukrainian reform of school education to ensure that we gain experience in assessing knowledge and developing skills through tasks based on the competency approach.

"We are currently working on the concept of the new Ukrainian school, which is based on the competency approach. PISA can give Ukraine a great deal. I hope our teachers, who are familiar with the tasks of PISA from previous years, and who understand, for example, the tools we can use, know just what the competency approach means and to the content of education and assessment", added the Minister of Education and Science.

Yuri Belfari noted that one of the strengths of PISA is the joint collaboration of experts from over 80 countries. That's why the role of Ukraine, in her view, (Yuri is a Japanese female name!), is mutually beneficial for all the participants, since it makes it possible to diversify research and gather more accurate information about the global education system.

 "This study will be conducted only in 2018. Now we are at the last preparatory stage before the resources are prepared, with all the tests and questionnaires common to all the countries involved. Ukraine as a member of the study will participate in the development of the resources, then can, using the  statistical methods developed, choose study participants among 15-year-old students. Such an approach will diversify the group that is being tested, including children from different types of schools, different areas and so on. The next stage is the selection of a group of children to take the tests and complete a questionnaire", explained Liliya Hrynevych.

The Minister also noted that in Ukraine the organiser with primary responsibility for the PISA-2018 study has been chosen as the Ukrainian Centre for Educational Quality Assessment (UCEQA) and thanked the Ministry of Education of Poland for supporting Ukraine during the negotiations for the inclusion of Ukraine in this project.

 Note:

 In order to maximize the effectiveness of its participation in PISA, Ukraine works with the Research Institute for Education in Poland - the organization responsible for the PISA project in Poland. Through such collaboration, Ukraine can receive contextual and technical support. Poland has participated in PISA since the launch of the project in 2000, and the teams working on PISA in Poland, have valuable experience that they are willing to share with the newly created team of Ukraine. This experience is important, in particular, in the preparations for the evaluation, analysis and dissemination of results.