Education: Minister on Pisa study: Often no interest in mathematics

From the perspective of Brandenburg’s Education Minister Steffen Freiberg (SPD) showed that students often no longer feel like doing math.

«An important finding of the Pisa Study is that many students today are no longer interested in mathematics because they do not realize how important mathematics is for later life,” said Freiberg to the “Märkische Allgemeine Zeitung”. In mathematics, German students fell particularly badly in the PISA study.

Freiberg also told the newspaper that social media influences the type of communication, “the way sentences are formed, how long one is receptive.” But a ban on smartphones would not be the right answer. «A smartphone is a tool and not a bad thing in itself. It depends on how you apply it.”

Freiberg said he could promise parents that “we will do everything we can to secure the human resources to give good lessons.” He wants to make the teaching profession more attractive and also ensure that more teachers teach beyond the age of 63.

German students performed worse in the PISA study in 2022 than ever before. Both in reading and in mathematics and natural sciences, these were the lowest values ​​ever measured for Germany as part of Pisa.

The classification of the PISA results also means that the students in the 9th grade took part in the tests from April 2022 and that this year group was severely affected by the restrictions on teaching in the corona pandemic, Freiberg had said days ago.

© dpa-infocom, dpa:231209-99-235148/3