The PISA results require a proactive approach from all actors

The KLGI Institute considers the PISA results a clear message that the education system currently cannot become an instrument of development.

We should take PISA as healthy for this society, because it leads to reflection. This society needs a serious debate on the education of the new generations who must be the drivers of the country’s economic and social development.

This situation is not a one-off; it also stems from ill-conceived reforms since the post-war period, which have fragmented the system as a whole. A fragile system was also a consequence of a decade of isolation of education in the 1990s.

The professional level, forms of recruitment and the lack of periodic quality assessment have, as can be seen, caught us by surprise. In other words, the problem has continually been recycled.

Regardless of the results, the frustration should not be vented on the current minister. He has at least had the courage to look at the situation realistically as a first step towards stopping this trend.

The problem is systemic and has a chain effect, starting from legislation, recruitment and the general level of education. It is made worse by the fact that the education system in municipalities is seen as the largest body subject to political exploitation.

Meanwhile, the unions should not obstruct but be partners in a systematic process of reform and assessment, because such a poor level does no one any credit.

It is urgent to set standards and to put in place systematic control and assessment. There is also a need for a rigorous recruitment and assessment process.

As long as we do not raise the level of education, every segment will put its functioning at risk. In this way we can never achieve cohesion and sustainable development.

The KLGI Institute expresses its readiness and remains committed to engaging continuously in the reform process and the advancement of this sector, with an emphasis on the local level.