The pandemic has passed a much higher school bill in Catalonia than in the rest of Western countries, despite the fact that it was one of the territories that kept schools closed for the least time. Thus, according to the PIRLS 2021 report that measures the reading comprehension of children in the 4th grade, the setback compared to five years ago was double in this community compared to that accused by the group of Spanish autonomies, European countries and the OECD. The Ministry of Education and Vocational Training, which already published the Spanish results 15 days ago, has released this morning the data from the nine autonomous communities that analyze the results of their territories.
Thus, in 2016 reading comprehension in Catalan schools stood at 522 points, 6 points below the Spanish average and 18 points below the OECD countries. Although it was less than average, it was close to Western standards.
Five years later and with a pandemic in the middle, it has ostensibly distanced itself, falling apart from the rest. The score is now 507 for the reading level of the 10 and 11 year olds. This is 14 points below Spain, 21 below the OECD and 26 by the OECD. Of the nine autonomous communities analyzed, it only exceeds the values of Ceuta and Melilla.
In this five-year period, almost all countries have fallen in their values due to confinement and subsequent virus containment measures that affected schools and students. Spain has fallen 7 points, going from 528 to 521 in this period and it is considered that about 5 points are explained by the closure of schools for 45 school days, according to the Ministry of Education. The OECD goes from an average of 541 to 533 points, the 7 points of setback experienced by Spain.
In Catalonia, 15 points were recorded, going from 522 to 507, at the levels of Turkey and Belgium (most of the countries analyzed exceed these parameters, led by Ireland with 577 points).
In this edition, Catalonia is located in the bottom group with the Canary Islands (510), Melilla (499) and Ceuta (498). For its part, Asturias shoots up, with 550 points, well above the western averages. It is followed by Madrid, with 539, Castilla y León, with 538, Navarra, with 524 points, and Andalucía, with 523. There is a difference of 42 points between the highest community, Asturias, and the lowest, Ceuta.
These negative data condition the educational success of schoolchildren since reading comprehension is the necessary basis for learning other disciplines. However, and as happens in other autonomous communities, including those with the best results, the levels of equity in Catalonia are positive. This means that there are no significant differences in academic results based on the socioeconomic circumstances of the students' families. Other studies carried out by the Generalitat, such as the basic skills carried out by the Consell Superior d'Avaluació del Sistema Educatiu, do indicate differences between educational centers.
In the detailed analysis of PIRLS 2021, which establishes five levels of proficiency in reading comprehension (very low, low, intermediate, high and advanced), a worsening of the Catalan data is also observed. There are more students in the lower ranks and fewer in the higher ranks compared to the last report. Thus, in 2016, the children who did not reach a minimum competence and were in the first percentile were 4% while in this edition they are 6%. The same happens in the next stage, with low competition, which has risen 6 points compared to the previous edition. 43% of the total is located at the intermediate level.
On the other hand, it has dropped 8 points in the upper sections, those students who better understand what they read at high and advanced levels. Students with advanced performance (3%) are half the Spanish average (6%) and almost a quarter of the average for the OECD (11%) or Asturias (11%).
The International Study of Progress in Reading Comprehension 2021 (Pirls, in its acronym in English) is prepared by the National Institute for Educational Evaluation of the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training with data published by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA). ) and released this Tuesday. The study, carried out with 4th grade students from 57 countries, is the first major international evaluation published after the pandemic.
In any case, the new education law, the Celaá law, establishes a mandatory half-hour daily reading in primary and secondary education in all educational centers in the country with the aim of improving reading comprehension and promoting the pleasure of reading. reading.
On average, 15-year-old students who read daily for pleasure score more than a year and a half of schooling compared to the rest, as the OECD concluded in a 2015 report. The Department of Education has also launched a plan to improve reading comprehension after noticing the decrease in the linguistic competence of the students detected in the evaluations of basic competences last year.
