The OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is one of the most popular international exam and its results are the most widespread reference for many governments and educators to evaluate the local education context, and to design and implement policy new targets.
PISA test has changed over time and it tries to test key knowledge and skills acquired at school by 15-year-old students. In the past, the test used to focus only on the traditional subjects of mathematics, science and reading, however, the last test version has included other aspects such as collaborative problem solving and financial literacy.
Since Peru´s first participation in this international assessment, the results have been not encouraging. Being almost at the bottom of the list of countries and economies, it is a place where Peru is getting used. In this respect, the graph below can help to understand better the little progress in terms of educational improvement in Peru.
The Graph 1 depicts the outcomes of Peru and OECD average scores from the PISA Reports. The horizontal line represents 3 different years when the test was taken by Peruvian students. Before 2009 Peru did not take part in previous examinations. Besides the vertical line is the scale of science, reading and mathematics which can be more than 600 points. For instance, Shanghai-China scored 613 in 2012 PISA test. The test is divided into 3 sections - Reading, Science and Mathematics - and the last test version added new sections which are not analyzed here.
References: 2009, 2012 and 2015 PISA Reports
Peruvian outcomes have slightly increased from 2009 to 2015; however the improvement is not significant. In 2015, Peruvian students scored 397, 373 and 369 in Reading, Science and Mathematics sections, respectively, just over Lebanon, Tunisia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Algeria and Dominican Republic’s outcomes. In 2012, Peru was at the bottom of the list, literally. The 2009 Report reflected Peru at two places above the bottom of the list. Unlike the OECD average score is 490.
In a nutshell, if there is something to worry about is why Peru still has a poor performance in education, and also why there is no sign of significant improvement in the last decade.