Pupils with a migrant background perform better in Reading Comprehension than their Cypriot peers, according to the results of the international PISA survey on pupil performance in Cyprus. In addition, the island country ranks first in terms of the proportion of children who give rushed answers ‘and have not spent more than 10 seconds on the exercises’, whilst the fact that pupils from lower socio-economic backgrounds demonstrate educational resilience is viewed as a positive development.
The PISA programme results were presented during a press conference on Friday at the Ministry of Education while the specific changes being introduced to the education system with the aim of improving the quality of learning were also announced, with the Minister of Education, Athena Michaelidou noting that measures are already being implemented which could lead to better learning outcomes.
As the results show, the performance of children with a migrant background is higher than that of Cypriot children in all three areas under review. Specifically, in Reading Comprehension, first-generation children with a migrant background and a high socio-economic background scored 486 points. Second-generation children scored 424 points and Cypriot pupils 415. Among those from a low socio-economic background, performance stands at 369 marks for first-generation children and 367 marks for both second-generation children and Cypriot pupils.
In Mathematics, first-generation children from migrant backgrounds with a high socio-economic background scored 512 marks, whilst second-generation children scored 460 marks and Cypriot pupils 450 marks. Among those from a low socio-economic background, first-generation pupils scored 408 marks, Cypriot pupils 387 and second-generation pupils 384 marks. In Natural Sciences, first-generation children from migrant backgrounds with a high socio-economic background scored 520 marks, whilst second-generation children scored 460 and Cypriot pupils scored 452 marks.
Among those from a low socio-economic background, performance stands at 401 marks for first-generation pupils, 389 for Cypriot pupils and 382 for second-generation pupils. The survey findings also show that our country ranks first in terms of the proportion of children who give hasty answers ‘and have spent no more than 10 seconds on the exercises’, with the figure standing at 24.9 per cent, explaining that this suggests ‘a large proportion of pupils have not taken the test seriously enough’. She also noted that the proportion of children leaving questions unanswered is particularly high.
Also, 43.5% of pupils in Cyprus are classified below Level 2 and do not possess the basic skills in any of the three core subject areas of the survey, while only 0.7 per cent are classified above Level 5 and possess advanced skills in all three core subjects. At the same time, a large proportion of pupils did not actively engage with the survey.
