Page 13 - Islands Business February 2023

Education Education

“This may highlight difficulties with implementing digital
OVERALL, learning measures in the region and it appears that physical
STUDENTS HAVE A learning materials are still key to the learning experience in
POSITIVE
ATTITUDE many countries.”
TOWARDS SCHOOL The report suggests future research on any differences in
the learning attainment of students who were taught by the
various learning continuity measures would be useful.
Students’ views
The survey also asked students how they felt about school Many schools reported other resource constraints, including
and learning. shortages or inadequate classrooms, shortages or inadequate
learning materials, and shortages or absenteeism of teach-
“Only half the students in the region reported frequently
having a good day, being cheerful, and looking forward to ers. Inadequate instruction materials was the most commonly
reported problem, with half the students in the region attend-
the next day. Further, one in five students reported frequent ing schools where this was an issue.
negative experiences, such as hunger, tiredness, feeling up-
set, or not having enough friends,” the report states.
“In short, the regional well-being findings show a clear need
to act for improved student well-being and should be a key MOST STUDENTS HAVE
TEACHERS THAT ARE
future research focus for regional and national stakeholders.” SATISIFED WITH AND
PROUD OF THEIR
Students also talked about their learning challenges, most JOBS
commonly reporting difficulties “learning or remembering,
controlling their behaviour, and concentrating and focusing
their attention (about 20% of students).” “At the classroom level, only one in three students have ac-
cess to their own textbook and one in three teachers felt that
they did not have enough time to work with students who are
BUT 1 IN 5 REPORT
FREQUENT NEGATIVE slow learners.”
EXPERIENCES LIKE While most teachers reported feeling confident in teach-
HUNGER, TIREDNESS,
FEELING UPSET OR ing numeracy and literacy, fewer “were confident in teaching
NOT HAVING ENOUGH unstructured literacy subjects (such as quality of ideas in
FRIENDS
writing).” The report suggests there may be a need for profes-
sional development in this area.
Teachers surveyed observed related problems; difficulty
Other recommendations include prioritising intervention
focusing attention and concentrating, and a lack of basic on student reading performance, with the report noting,
knowledge and skills. “students require reading ability to not only engage with texts
Higher performance scores were found in students who
attended at least one year of early childhood education, had but also to understand problems and succeed in all subjects.
The relatively low reading scores from PILNA 2021 may, if left
parents with a university level of education or higher, and unaddressed, cause lower performance in all subjects as the
who belonged to households with higher than average wealth students progress through school. Targeted interventions for
levels. reading performance are needed from a household level to a
More in-depth analysis of these results is planned.
governmental and regional level.”
It also suggests prioritising formative assessment practices,
Learning environments or frequent, informal assessments of student learning, to
PILNA 2021 was undertaken during the COVID-19 pandemic,
and considered this and “pandemics, epidemics, natural disas- check in on student understanding, and identify where extra
teaching support is needed.
ters and factors specified by respondents.” “It is recommended that regional entities, ministries of
Pandemic-related school closures affected 66% of the stu-
dents surveyed, and some of these schools were closed for up education, teacher education institutions, school leaders and
teachers strengthen, develop and utilise formative assessment
to eight weeks. practices,” the report states.
About the same proportion of students were affected by
Writing in the forward, the Pacific Community’s Director
natural disasters, although in general, school closures for this General, Dr Stuart Minchin observes, “In this region, ocean
reason were much shorter. science, biodiversity, health, climate change, each play a
The report noted that while schools took action to continue
learning during closures, a digital divide emerged: “Physical fundamental role in driving our development, but if the
Pacific wants to be a leader in these fields, it will need future
learning continuity methods, such as the provision of learning generations to be ready to take on this region’s most pressing
materials, were the commonest measures (40–51%), although challenges.”
there were significant efforts by some schools to ensure learn-
ing continuity through social media and email (36%). Small editor@islandsbusiness.com
proportions of students attended schools with other non-phys-
ical learning continuity measures, such as digital distribution
of materials (20–24%).

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