The performance of Israeli schoolchildren in international tests in mathematics and science, which are held every four years, is declining sharply. This is shown by the results of the TIMSS (Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study) test conducted in Israel in May 2023. Unlike previous occasions, this time the numbers were released at the last minute, indicating an attempt by Education Minister Yoav Kisch to avoid criticism as much as possible. A senior official in the Ministry of Education said: “We all have a share in this, and we must all be dismissed. Israel has been destroyed, and it is a third world country, and they want to blame former Minister Yifat.” Shasha Biton.”
Another source strongly criticized the minister, saying: “They don’t want journalists asking questions about the numbers, so they kept them away from everyone except a small handful of people close to the minister.”
In 2019, Israel ranked ninth globally, with a score of 519. In 2023, Israel fell to 23rd place, with a score of 487, a decline of 32 points.
Meanwhile, Kish is shirking responsibility, trying to attribute the situation to the Covid pandemic, to the turnover of general directors in the Ministry of Education, and to the war, not to education programs or budgets. It must be emphasized that the figures are for up to May 2023 and therefore have nothing to do with the current war.
“I become a minister in 2023,” Kish said. “At the end of March, I held a strategy meeting and highlighted the word ‘stability’. In these four years there was instability: the pandemic, the elections, the security challenges, and the test represents that period.”
Although the Education Minister blames the pandemic, Sweden and the UK improved their results. Sweden’s maths score rose by 15 points, while the UK’s score rose by 10 points.
The Ministry of Education said that these countries “adopted more moderate policies” during the pandemic. In the rest of the world, average scores in math and science fell by 11 to 12 points.
Professor Michal Zion, a researcher in science teaching at the Faculty of Education at Bar-Ilan University, said of the test results: “You can point to a severe crisis in science teaching: there are no teachers. Instead of six hours a week for each day,” there are only two students, and often the teacher Teaching two classes together, although the standard is 24 students per lesson.
“Because of this severe shortage of teachers, school principals impose on them a teaching load of more than one job, and as a result science teachers are unable to attend special on-the-job training, become burned out, and leave the school system. In science, you can work in the field of high technology, So quitting teaching is easy.
“In addition, the TIMSS test requires a high level of reading and writing skills. It contains multiple-choice questions that must be understood, and open-ended questions that require the ability to formulate an answer. Reading and writing skills in Israel They are in big trouble, and this also has an impact on Math and science tests.”
Another point that Professor Zion raises is that the curriculum in Israel does not always match the TIMSS tests. “A lot of the knowledge required is not learned in the classroom, but despite this, this does not mean that things are completely skewed, because knowledge is not the most important element. It is important that we learn to think, to be creative and curious.”
Dr. Tali Yaniv, Senior Director of the Educational Affairs Office of the Ministry of Education, said: “New teaching programs in mathematics for primary and secondary schools have recently been written and approved. The middle school program is in the development stage. In these programmes, the emphasis is on mathematical thinking and insight, as well as on Conforming to international standards. In science, the teaching program has been revised with a focus on scientific literacy and the implementation of these programs is accompanied by the replacement of textbooks and professional development for teachers.”
TIMSS test is conducted by International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievementheadquartered in the Netherlands.
Published by Globes, Israel Business News – en.globes.co.il – on December 5, 2024.
© Copyright Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd., 2024.
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