Israel slumps in int'l maths and science tests

Prof. Michal Zion of the Bar-Ilan University Faculty of Education: There are no teachers. Minister of Education Yoav Kisch denies responsibility.

The performance of Israeli school pupils in international tests in mathematics and science held every four years is in sharp decline. This emerges from the results of the TIMSS (Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study) test held in Israel in May 2023. Unlike on previous occasions, this time the figures were released at the last moment, indicating an attempt by Minister of Education Yoav Kisch to avoid criticism as much as possible. A senior Ministry of Education official said, "We all have a share in this, and all of us ought to be dismissed. Israel has crashed, and is among the third world countries, and they want to put the blame on the previous minister Yifat Shasha-Biton."

Another source sharply criticized the minister: "They don’t want reporters asking questions about the figures, so they kept them from everyone apart from a small handful of people close to the minister."

In 2019, Israel was in ninth place globally, with a score of 519. In 2023, Israel fell to 23rd place, with a score of 487, a decline of 32 points.

Kisch meanwhile has disavowed responsibility, and is trying to attribute the situation to the Covid pandemic, to the turnover in directors general of the Ministry of Education, and to the war, and not to education programs or budgets. It should be stressed that the figures are for up to May 2023, and so have no connection to the current war.

"I became minister in 2023," Kisch said. "At the end of March I held a strategic meeting and highlighted the word ‘stability.’ In these four years there was instability: the pandemic, elections, and security challenges. The test represents that period."

Although the education minister blames the pandemic, Sweden and the UK improved their scores. Sweden’s score in mathematics rose by 15 points, while that of the UK 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, the average score in mathematics and science fell by 11-12 points.

Prof. Michal Zion, a researcher in science teaching in 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 weekly hours per pupil there are only two, and often a teacher teaches two classes together, even though the standard is 24 pupils in a lesson.

"Because of this severe shortage of teachers, school principals impose on them a teaching load that is more than one job, and as a result science teachers are unable to attend special in-work training, become worn out, and abandon the school system. In sciences, you can work in high tech, and so leaving teaching is easy.

"In addition, the TIMSS test requires a high level of reading and writing skills. It contains multiple-choice questions for which the question has to be understood, and open questions that demand the ability to formulate an answer. Reading and writing skills in Israel are in bad trouble, and that too has an effect on the mathematics and science tests."

Another point that Prof. Zion raises is that the curriculum in Israel doesn’t always match the TIMSS tests. "A great deal of the required knowledge is not learned in class, but all the same, that doesn’t mean that things are completely awry, because knowledge is not the most important element. It’s more important to learn to reason, to be creative and curious."

Dr. Tali Yaniv, senior director of the Office of Pedagogical Affairs at the Ministry of Education said, "New teaching programs in mathematics have recently been written and approved for primary schools and high school. The program for middle school is at the development stage. In these programs, an emphasis is placed on mathematical reasoning and insight, and also on matching to international standards. In science, the teaching program has been revised with an emphasis on scientific literacy. Implementation of these programs is accompanied by replacement of text books and professional development of the teachers."

The TIMSS test is run by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement, based in The Netherlands.

Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on December 5, 2024.

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd., 2024.