Attending school without learning

At the beginning of the 2000s, around 30% of children in the poorest countries were not enrolled in elementary school. However, even in these poorer contexts, the schooling rate at age 10 has rapidly approached 100% in recent years. It is estimated that in these poorer contexts, average schooling increased from two to seven years between 1950 and 2010. This is one of the great victories of public education policies: most children go to school.

Having overcome the challenge of access, we need to discuss the quality of the education being offered to these children and young people. And here we find many more challenges. In the poorest countries, it is estimated that 53% of 10-year-olds are unable to read and understand a text of low difficulty - a figure that can reach 87% in sub-Saharan Africa. A recent study published in the journal Nature gathered data from various standardized and comparable tests carried out since 1960 in different geographies and concluded that the results of pupils leaving primary school have been stagnant since the early 2000s. In other words, on average, 10-year-olds today learn no more than they did 20 years ago, and this is happening all over the world.

A similar analysis compiled data from international tests such as PISA and TIMSS to conclude that two thirds of young people worldwide do not reach the minimum proficiency standards set by the OECD. These levels define thresholds for reading and understanding basic information as well as other essential skills for everyday life, without which it is difficult to achieve more complex knowledge. In Europe and North America, it is estimated that one in four students does not reach this minimum level of knowledge. And these figures do not yet reflect the after-effects of the pandemic. In the United States, the NAEP test - which has been measuring students' literacy and numeracy at the age of 13 since the 1970s - again showed a drop in average scores in 2023, after a drop already recorded in 2022, in the post-pandemic period. A similar pattern was observed in Europe, with a sharp drop in results in PISA 2022.

This is why it is increasingly important not only to measure students' schooling in years, but also to consider the quality of learning during this period. This quality dimension is absolutely essential, as the data shows that what correlates most with countries' economic growth and future salaries is not just the number of years they spend in school, but the quality of learning.

In view of this data, action is needed to ensure that time at school is an effective period for consolidating knowledge. It is therefore inevitable to ask: what path should we follow to improve the quality of learning?

We could point to many factors, but we would highlight three essential axes of public policy:

1. Reading instruction based on the best scientific evidence on how children should learn to decode words and develop fluency. Only in this way will they later be able to interpret more complex texts and understand more difficult concepts.
2. The quality of teachers and the rigor of their scientific knowledge. This is an essential topic, especially when, in Portugal and in much of Europe, the shortage of teachers raises questions about the capacity and criteria for recruiting new teachers.
3. The importance of supplementary learning outside the classroom. In order to effectively catch up with students who fall behind, it is essential to create additional learning moments that respond to the specific needs of each student.

Over the last few decades, an important fight for access to school has been waged all over the world. It is now essential to ensure that the time spent in class translates into effective learning for students. Isn't that the purpose of school?