[MGSA-L] Greek education ranked worst in the EU

[June Samaras]

http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_wsite1_1_08/05/2014_539557

Greek education ranked worst in the EU


Greece has the worst education system in the 28-member European Union,
according to a global league table compiled by the Economist Intelligence
Unit for the British publishing firm Pearson which shows Asian countries
overtaking Scandinavian nations that have traditionally excelled in this
area.

South Korea tops the league chart, which comprises 39 countries as well as
the region of Hong Kong, with Finland down to fifth place after ranking top
last year. Greece is in 33rd place, wedged between Chile and Turkey.

The rankings are based on the assessment of students’ performance in school
examinations as well as international tests including the Program for
International Student Assessment (PISA) examinations devised by the
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

The performance of Greek teenagers in the PISA tests has worsened over the
past few years, with some blaming the slump on the repercussions of the
country’s economic crisis and others pointing to deeply ingrained
shortfalls in the country’s education system.

In a written statement issued on Thursday after the release of the report,
Education Minister Constantinos Arvanitopoulos claimed that Greece’s
problematic education system has gradually started to improve despite
troika-imposed cutbacks that have slashed spending by 35 percent. “The
report confirms the observation of the Education Ministry...that our
education system, for many years now, lacks a strategy, is not pedagogical
and does not contribute to development,” the statement said, adding that
the latter factor was “one of the basic structural reasons for the crisis
we are experiencing today.”

The Pearson report notes that the impressive performance of students in the
Asian countries that top the league – South Korea is followed by Japan,
Singapore and Hong Kong – is largely due to a culture of respect for
teachers and schools in those countries; it expressed doubts, however,
about the long-term value of rote learning that is a mainstay of the
education systems in many Asian countries.

ekathimerini.com , Thursday May 8, 2014 (20:45)

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June Samaras
2020 Old Station Rd
Streetsville,Ontario
Canada L5M 2V1
Tel : 905-542-1877
E-mail : june.samaras at gmail.com
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