Pupils’ reading and maths skills have “deteriorated significantly” in most EU countries. It is the result of the latest report on employment carried out by the European Commission and which warns of the consequences that will affect the labor market in the future.
Romanian students, the leaders of Europe in Mathematics. Archive
According to the data provided to the public by the European Commission, the underperformance rate of children has increased dramatically in the last 12 years, but the lowest level of basic knowledge was recorded in 2022. The reason is most likely related to the closure of schools during the pandemic by COVID. These conclusions are not at all gratifying, especially in the context in which the European Union is far from achieving its proposed objective, namely that of reducing poor results to 15% by 2030.
Almost one in three 15-year-olds currently lack basic skills in Maths, and one in four cannot reach minimum levels in reading and science. The report assessed these results as a threat to labor productivity and competitiveness in the medium term. The study authors also cited employer surveys saying that having skilled workers is essential. On the other hand, they also pointed out, the lack of labor will hinder the ability of companies to increase production and develop. Basically, we will wake up in front of a chain of weaknesses. Employers will not have employees who can perform on the job, which is why businesses risk collapsing under the weight of the massive incompetence produced in the school.
European governments are taking the first steps for literacy as quickly as possible
Romania, Cyprus and Bulgaria complete the ranking of underperformance rates in Mathematics, the report also says. Poorer students in the EU are also doing much worse than the more financially advantaged, with nearly half performing poorly in Maths in 2022. But the decline has also hit wealthier children to some extent, with the report signaling a shortage of qualified teachers, exacerbated in recent years, among others, by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Roxana Mînzatu, Executive Vice-President of the Commission for Skills, said the figures show the danger that the green and digital transition is “leaving our citizens behind”. It is also the reason why several governments have already started to take the first measures. Finland, for example, has introduced compulsory lessons, and the Dutch will give €500 per pupil to schools that want to improve basic skills.
Roxana Mînzatu is to present a skills plan at the beginning of March. She said that this “it will focus on investment in skills, adult lifelong learning, vocational education and training, retention of skills and recognition of skills’. The Commission also plans to review a digital education plan and develop a roadmap for the future of digital education and training.
