| Hello, *|NOME|* The results of the latest PISA (Program for International Student Assessment), presented to the public last week, show expected evidence, such as a widespread drop in performance post-COVID. On average, the drop in mathematics was 3.8% between 2018 and 2022. But among the top 10 performers, it was only 2.1 percent, while for the top 10 worst performers it was 4.9 percent. This is repeated for Reading and Science. Another important fact is that performance was strongly affected by the stoppage of school activities. The deeper and longer, the greater the fall. In this aspect, Brazil stands out negatively. We were one of the countries with the longest lockdown period and ranked 65th out of 81 countries. In Science we were 51st out of 80 countries, and in reading we were ranked 35th out of 54 countries. The results also revealed that Brazilian students living in higher-income families performed as well as students in rich countries. This implies that the drop among the rest was even more pronounced. Another important finding is that there are significant differences in results when considering the student's region of residence. The South and Southeast showed higher results than the other regions. Throughout its little more than three years of existence, IMDS has highlighted the crucial role of education in boosting social mobility and overcoming poverty. We have shown that if the generation entering the labor market in 2022 had had the schooling and quality of learning of their Chilean peers, it would generate about 40% greater added value over the course of their working lives (see). And that this low productivity is strongly associated with the absence of educational mobility, to the extent that an individual's schooling is still strongly associated with the schooling of his or her parents (see). We also show that high school is a huge barrier for those adolescents from less favored classes (see). And we show that the schooling of children and adolescents (the latter, the PISA public) has enormous regional variability (see), with evident success stories, even in less favored regions, as is the case of Ceará. The PISA results are revealing that, regrettably, our public education system has not been able to reduce differences from birth. This is nothing new. In a work previously carried out by IMDS, in which PISA results for 2009 and 2018 were presented, it is easy to see that we did not evolved in the 10 years that separated the two moments (see). In a nutshell, the zip code of birth was and remains more relevant than our educational system. It has been unable to minimally reduce differences at birth. In more than 20 years of PISA, the fact is that we have never been in the group with scores above the average, always being among the worst 25%, or even lower. In fact, we have always been at least one standard deviation below the mean and only when countries known to be poorer and/or less educated have taken the tests, have we been able to stay at 0.5 standard deviations below the mean. It is very little considering the fact that we spend more on education, as a proportion of GDP, than Chile and something close to Korea, whose performances are much higher than Brazil's (Chile, at least 10% better, and Korea approximately 30% higher than Brazil's). Total spending on education in Brazil during this period grew by approximately 70% in real terms and spending per student grew even more. Even so, the Brazilian result has evolved very little. We know that the production function of education is complex and multifactorial. The results depend on numerous factors beyond the resources directly allocated. One thing, however, seems certain: active engagement of the various spheres of the public sector is required. And this involves the definition of clear guidelines by the federal government, the engagement of state and municipal governments, the involvement of public school principals and teachers, and the participation of families, demanding that the school deliver better academic performance for their children. The prominent role of the federal government leading this process is crucial. We must consider that in a period slightly lengthier than this one, Korea changed its history in educational terms and had exceptional productivity gains producing economic growth that distanced it from middle-income countries. During this period, Brazil had several governments, but none of them was able to change this situation. As mentioned in another "IMDS Letter" more action and less misrepresentation are needed.
See you in the next “Letter from IMDS”! Paulo Tafner CEO |
