The latest Pacific Islands Literacy and Numeracy Assessment (PILNA) for primary school children has revealed growth across the region in numeracy and some improvement in literacy compared to the 2012 results.
In this regard, 74% of Year 4 students were at or above the expected numeracy proficiency level in 2012 and this increased to 86% in 2015.
Similarly, the portion of Year 6 students at or above the expected numeracy level increased from a little over 56% in 2012 to almost 68% in 2015.
More than 45,000 Year 4 and Year 6 students from around 700 schools across 13 countries took part in the PILNA in 2015 which was administered in 10 languages, making it the largest ever assessment in the Pacific.
It was coordinated by the Pacific Community (SPC), through its Educational Quality and Assessment Programme (EQAP), in partnership with the New Zealand Aid Programme, and supported by Pacific Islands’ education ministries, teachers and parents.
However, the regional assessment reveals cause for concern, particularly with respect to the overall performance of boys compared to girls, and to literacy.
The PILNA 2015 results show that girls demonstrated higher levels of proficiency than boys across the region.
Of note is the close similarity between the performance of Year 6 boys which is almost identical to that of Year 4 girls, particularly in the writing strand.
