About PISA

The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is a triennial international survey which aims to evaluate education systems worldwide by testing the skills and knowledge of 15-year-old students who are nearing the end of their compulsory education. PISA assesses how well they can apply what they learn in school to real-life situations. Over 90 countries have participated in the assessment so far which began in 2000. Every three years students are tested in the key subjects: reading, mathematics and science.

The development in robotics and Artificial Intelligence will make machines better at routine tasks, and then humans will need to focus on the skills that remain exclusive to them: creativity, collaboration, communication, and problem-solving. They will also need to adapt quickly as more and more skills fall prey to automation. Thus it connotes that the 21st-century classroom will have to focus on the strengths and interests of each person, rather than impart a canonical set of knowledge which were suited for the industrial age.

COMPETENCY BASED TESTING AND INTERNATIONAL ASSESSMENTS

India's overall competitiveness as well as the job prospects of individual Indian citizens are heavily influenced by what happens in other countries. In a global economy, improvement by national standards cannot be the only ultimate measure of success. Instead, it is equally important to know how we are doing compared to other countries.

Globalisation and technology are creating new opportunities and challenges in the years ahead. The skills required to be successful in this global, technology-based future include creativity, critical thinking, and collaboration. In other words, it will be important to not just know the answer to a problem, but also to have the ability to think critically, creatively, and collaboratively about the problem in order to arrive at the best solution.

MOVING FROM ROTE-BASED TO COMPETENCY LEARNING

These kinds of non-routine questions require students to think in more critical and creative ways. They also require students to understand more deeply the concept or competency that underpins the question being posed.