Student/teacher ratio, public education outperforms private

2024-05-08 07:22:00, Sociale CNA

Student/teacher ratio, public education outperforms private

Illustrative photo

In this academic year, for the first time, the number of students per teacher in public schools is lower than in private schools.

In the current academic year 2023-2024 in the primary cycle, a teacher in public schools had an average of 15.1 students, while in the private sector, 15.2 students, INSTAT data show.

In the 9-year cycle (grades 6-9), a teacher in state schools had approximately 7.9 students, while in the private sector, 8 students.

In secondary education, the reports are still in favor of the private sector. A teacher in public schools has an average of 11.6 students, while in private schools, 9.1 students

The student-to-teacher ratio has improved significantly in the last decade due to the decline in births, as a significant proportion of children immigrate with their parents.

Eurostat data show that during 2013-2023, over 64,000 people under the age of 18 sought asylum in EU countries, the highest rate globally after Syria, in relation to the population.

In 2015, a teacher in the 9-year cycle taught an average of 18.3 students, while in the 2023-2024 school year, a teacher has an average of 15.1 students.

Fewer students per teacher should translate into better learning outcomes, but this has not happened.

The results of the PISA 2022 test (the international student assessment carried out by the OECD that evaluates the achievements of students in mathematics, science and reading) showed a dramatic drop in results.

In mathematics, they received 368 points, 69 points less than in the 2018 test and 21 points less than in 2012. In literature, they received 358 points, 47 less than in 2018 and 35 less than in 2012. Also in science, the decline was similar.

One of the reasons that many parents wake up over the years to private education to educate their children was the overcrowded classrooms in the public sector. Analyzes of learning achievements have always blamed high numbers of students in classes for poor results.

Experience is showing that the decrease in the number of students in classes and the quality of educational achievements are going inversely, when the opposite should happen.

Teachers and experts interviewed by "Monitor" in a special article have affirmed that the failure of the curriculum, the use of technology without criteria, low salaries, the decline of the teacher's authority, models of success not based on knowledge are some of the reasons for the decline. than the results.

Education has been and remains the basis for the prosperity of a society. The examples show us that the countries that have developed very quickly (South Korea and Estonia) have carried out a deep reform in education, which then served to move the country's economy to another level.

Albania's backwardness in education heralds a decline in all other sectors, which have been facing difficulties for professionals and the workforce for years./ Monitor magazine