Mexico's competitiveness from the point of view of the PISA project

By Farid Bielma López (Mexico)

“Science is a tool that helps to accomplish your ideas, and not a desert to be crossed to get a good job”

a) Current situation:

PISA is an OECD project which aims to assess in how far students, near the end of compulsory education, have acquired some knowledge and skills regarded necessary for full and active participation in our society of knowledge.

The PISA tests are conducted every 3 years and assess 15-year-olds at any grade level from seventh grade onwards; the test examines the skills necessary for modern life in reading, math and science. Level 2 represents the minimum regarded necessary for life in today's society, and achieving levels 5 and 6 means that a student is ready to perform complex cognitive activities.

In Mexico, 50 percent of 15-year-olds are at levels zero and one, the lowest in academic achievement in science skills, math and reading, which means they are less skilled to move to higher education and resolve basic problems.

In contrast, not even one percent is classified within the top level of the three skills assessed in the program.

These results place Mexico at the bottom of 30 countries of the OECD regarding scholastic achievement in the areas of science, reading and math.

Analyzing the results of PISA shows that the Mexican educational system must face two major challenges:

• On the one hand, Mexico has a high proportion of students below Level 2 (around 50%), which means that many young people are not being prepared for a productive life in society.
• In addition, the country has too few students in the higher levels (less than 1% at levels 5 and 6), which means that students fail in developing skills required for high-level positions in the various fields of society.

b) How can we improve?

The PISA results confirm that in the short run no dramatic changes can be expected to happen in the field of education, and that underdeveloped countries such as Mexico may not achieve results comparable to those of advanced nations; the government’s main failure lies in the neglecting of certain regions where the education quality is worse off and where a substantial raise of the education level seems inevitable.

An important point is the gradual involvement of new technologies in the teaching and learning process - teachers shall be able to generate content to supplement classroom activities and in the learning process children shall be granted access to digital services.

In general, to improve we must apply the same principles used by rich countries:

• Generation of technological innovation (a portion of PIB is devoted to research).
• High levels of investment in physical and human capital (required to raise the level of national competition).
• Governmental policies that seek to raise equity in the educational agenda (to generate equal opportunities).
• A decentralized market economy (to reduce dependence on foreign companies).

Another important point is that in Mexico most of the graduates choose psychology, law, humanities and other areas, while the country actually produces very few engineers or professionals related to the sciences.

Education has to turn to help students think for themselves, stimulating intellectual curiosity and prioritizing competitiveness.

The real key to Mexico's competitiveness is education, hence its importance.

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