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'Failing to keep pace with world's best' |
A study by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development is expected to spark fresh criticism of Labour's education record. A league table ranking education standards across the developed world is expected to confirm that teenagers in Britain are still lagging behind those in other countries. The figures - charting achievement in literacy, mathematics and science - are set to show that schools in England, Scotland and Wales are performing poorly in the core subjects. It follows disastrous results when rankings compiled by the respected Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development were last published in 2007. Despite a multi-billion pound rise in education spending under the last Government, figures showed Britain plummeted from seventh to 17th in reading and from fourth to 14th in science. In maths, pupils were ranked in 24th place - placing them below the international average. On Friday, academics told the Times Educational Supplement that the latest round of figures - published on Tuesday - "won't be a good result" for Britain, with speculation that schools may even perform worse than last time. The disclosure will be seized upon by the Coalition which has consistently criticised Labour's handling of the education system, saying schools have failed to keep pace with standards achieved by the best countries in the world. The Government's education White Paper - published last week - said "at the moment, we are standing still while others race past". "The only way we can catch up, and have the world-class schools our children deserve, is by learning the lessons of other countries' success," said the report. The performance tables - part of the OECD's Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) - are based on independent tests taken by 400,000 15-year-olds worldwide. Exams are sat every three years in the majority of major nations, with 57 countries taking part in the last round of tests. Labour hailed a strong performance in 2000 as a triumphant vindication of its education policies. But tests sat in 2006 - and published a year later - showed standards had fallen in all three subject areas, prompting widespread criticism over teaching and policies designed to raise achievement in the basics. Britain failed to take part in 2003. In reading, Britain was overtaken by countries including Poland, Sweden, the Netherlands and Japan. Pupils plummeted below their peers in Slovenia, Belgium, the Netherlands in maths and were out-performed by those from Estonia and Liechtenstein in science. The Coalition's White Paper last week outlined plans to adopt policies from the best-performing education systems in the world. This included adapting teacher training reforms introduced in Finland and benchmarking exams against standards demanded in countries such as South Korea and Singapore. A spokesman for the Department for Education, said: "We can't comment on the report until it is formally published, but we are very concerned that England is struggling to keep pace in international league tables like the Pisa study. "These reports should be a wake-up call because they paint a sobering picture of the global system in which we are competing. "Our White Paper takes the best of what works from around the world and brings it to England. "It sets out how we will raise the status and quality of teachers, free them up from central Government control and bring sharper, more focused accountability for all schools." |
Labour's education record will come under renewed attack next week as a major international study shows schools are failing to improve.