While Germany is experiencing a Pisa defeat, Austria is doing well. But one aspect is worrying. A school principal sees a problem in migrant households.
Vienna – A new educational earthquake is reaching Germany: The Federal Republic is performing catastrophically poorly in the current PISA study. The neighboring country Austria, on the other hand, is doing much better. But one aspect of the… study brings the discussion about education policy to a boil there too: In the Alpine republic, students with a migration background perform noticeably worse in the tests. A school principal is now making fathers and mothers responsible at home.
Pisa study sparks discussion in Austria about language in migrant households
“It’s about attitude,” says Christian Klar, headmaster of a Viennese hot spot school. “It’s about being prepared to forgo Turkish films at home” and instead “read books in German, read newspapers in German,” the local politician told the Austrian Radio (ORF).
Headmaster Klar sees the responsibility first and foremost in the households. Parents should show a willingness to implement this German-language reading focus and also demand it from their children, as in the ORFformat “Time in Picture 2” explained.
The middle school principal is responding to the findings of the Austrian Pisa results with his demand. What is striking is that students with a migration background lag behind their classmates without a migration background more than in the other European countries in the study. In math, for example, students who are only in the first or second generation living in Austria achieved over ten percent fewer points.
“Reality looks completely different”: Education expert complains about system failure in schools
Entrepreneur and author Ali Mahlodji would take a different approach. The EU youth ambassador criticized this ORF, that expectations and reality are too far apart in Austrian schools: “The education system assumes: They sit down, they can do everything, they understand everything, you just teach them something within 45 minutes. Complete.”
“The reality of the world and society looks completely different,” emphasizes the education expert. He gained more insight through hundreds of school and class visits. Teachers who are overwhelmed by the “system failure” would have problems meeting the various needs of students with a migration background, disabilities or long-term illness. “We have noticed in recent years: [Diese Schüler] are not seen in this system.”
In a European comparison: the performance of Austrian students suffers less after Corona
The Austrian Education Minister Martin Polaschek would prefer to focus on the positive. The drop in performance that could be expected after the Corona crisis was reflected in the results of the neighboring country to a much lesser extent than elsewhere. Austria “only” lost 12 points in mathematics (OECD average: -17 points) and only 4 points in reading (OECD average: -11 points). In the natural sciences, one point was even gained, while an average of 4 points were lost.
What is the Pisa study?
PISA (Program for International Student Assessment) is the largest international school performance study. Almost 700,000 students from 81 countries and regions took part in 2022. The PISA study takes place every three years and covers the areas of reading, mathematics and science. One of the three areas alternates as the focus. (Source: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development)
“The results of the study are overall quite encouraging,” emphasized Polaschek in a press conference on Tuesday (December 5). They would show that the education system has taken the right path, “and that is why we will continue to pursue it.”
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