After the gap of almost a decade, India will take part in Programme For International Student Assessment (PISA) test conducted by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation Development (OECD), Financial Express has reported.

The two-hour computer-based test conducted once in three years is to be taken by 15-year-old students who have completed at least six years of formal school education.

Under this test, PISA doesn’t test a student’s memory or curriculum based knowledge but claims to judge the test taker’s competency in reading, mathematics and science. The exam also focuses on the student’s ability to use their ability to tackle real-life challenge.

The mathematics section has been heavily dominated by the Asian countries, with the top seven ranks all being bagged by Asian nations in the 2015 examination. The first rank was bagged by Singapore.

When India participated in the exercise in 2009, it achieved a low rank of 72 among 74 participating nations. The Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) under the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government had withdrawn from the test and dubbed the questions in the test as “out of context”.

“If 80 countries can participate in PISA, including China and Vietnam, then there is no reason why children in India cannot appear for it. We went through the question papers, we asked a couple of children and they loved it because the questions are competency-based and do not require any memorization,” Secretary, Department of School and Literacy MHRD told Financial Express.

India is applying with Kendriya Vidyalayas, Navodaya Vidyalayas, private and public schools of Chandigarh the 2021 edition of PISA. The application process for PISA requires three years.

Organisation for Economic Cooperation Development

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