[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"question:37:en-US":3},{"metadata":4,"sys":15,"fields":35},{"tags":5,"concepts":14},[6,11],{"sys":7},{"type":8,"linkType":9,"id":10},"Link","Tag","education",{"sys":12},{"type":8,"linkType":9,"id":13},"global",[],{"space":16,"id":20,"type":21,"createdAt":22,"updatedAt":23,"environment":24,"publishedVersion":28,"revision":29,"contentType":30,"locale":34},{"sys":17},{"type":8,"linkType":18,"id":19},"Space","ghhpjogyw4x7","fff1cdbc889db262aa358daf270526fa","Entry","2021-11-11T07:06:59.385Z","2025-04-23T08:21:22.092Z",{"sys":25},{"id":26,"type":8,"linkType":27},"master","Environment",92,22,{"sys":31},{"type":8,"linkType":32,"id":33},"ContentType","question","en-US",{"globalId":36,"answers":37,"answersAsImages":57,"wrongPercentage":94,"name":95,"questionText":96,"statistics":97,"veryWrongStatistics":100,"correctSentence":103,"youWereWrong":104,"youWereRight":105,"dataSourceShortText":106,"dataSourceLinkLongText":107,"extendedAnswerText":108,"headingVeryWrong":109,"youWereVeryWrong":104,"headingWrong":109},"37",[38,60,77],{"metadata":39,"sys":42,"fields":55},{"tags":40,"concepts":41},[],[],{"space":43,"id":45,"type":21,"createdAt":46,"updatedAt":47,"environment":48,"publishedVersion":50,"revision":51,"contentType":52,"locale":34},{"sys":44},{"type":8,"linkType":18,"id":19},"a1807e6fd3e4f537802c6afa937c2e01","2021-11-11T06:52:27.130Z","2024-09-20T13:43:44.055Z",{"sys":49},{"id":26,"type":8,"linkType":27},18,11,{"sys":53},{"type":8,"linkType":32,"id":54},"answer",{"globalId":56,"correctAnswer":57,"isVeryWrong":58,"answerText":59},"37-a1",false,true,"Around 10%",{"metadata":61,"sys":64,"fields":74},{"tags":62,"concepts":63},[],[],{"space":65,"id":67,"type":21,"createdAt":68,"updatedAt":69,"environment":70,"publishedVersion":50,"revision":51,"contentType":72,"locale":34},{"sys":66},{"type":8,"linkType":18,"id":19},"276f753c2c0a4e8f7e1575f80d72dcd3","2021-11-11T06:52:28.755Z","2024-09-20T13:43:44.020Z",{"sys":71},{"id":26,"type":8,"linkType":27},{"sys":73},{"type":8,"linkType":32,"id":54},{"globalId":75,"correctAnswer":57,"isVeryWrong":57,"answerText":76},"37-a2","Around 30%",{"metadata":78,"sys":81,"fields":91},{"tags":79,"concepts":80},[],[],{"space":82,"id":84,"type":21,"createdAt":85,"updatedAt":86,"environment":87,"publishedVersion":50,"revision":51,"contentType":89,"locale":34},{"sys":83},{"type":8,"linkType":18,"id":19},"6ec5649aad7f53317bbf93f2759c73e8","2021-11-11T06:52:30.201Z","2024-09-20T13:43:43.983Z",{"sys":88},{"id":26,"type":8,"linkType":27},{"sys":90},{"type":8,"linkType":32,"id":54},{"globalId":92,"correctAnswer":58,"isVeryWrong":57,"answerText":93},"37-a3","Around 50%",74,"Worldwide, how many children under age 15 do not a","Worldwide, how many children under age 15 do not achieve the required minimum skills in reading and math?",[98,99],"usa 0.69","swe 0.7767",[101,102],"usa 0.10","swe 0.2330","Roughly 50% of children under 15 don’t achieve a minimum level of competence in reading and math.","Most children today go to school. That’s an achievement. Now, it’s time to improve education by giving schools more resources.","They haven’t realized that schools everywhere have to improve a lot.","Source: UNESCO","UNESCO acknowledges that it is difficult to measure how well children have been learning as learning assessment data vary a lot and is hard to compare[2]. Where data is missing there are estimates instead. We consulted three independent experts on this data, however, and they trusted the source and regarded our correct answer as more correct than the other two answer options. We deliberately put a lot of difference between the three options because of the limitations of the dataset.\n\n[1] [Gapminder calculations using Gapminder and ASER data for India](https:\u002F\u002Fdocs.google.com\u002Fspreadsheets\u002Fd\u002F1NNFzfkbfP6rc5XYsexYlGhJHzfFUk-BeVm0H6caIxC0\u002Fedit?gid=1941259917#gid=1941259917)\n\n [2]  [UNESCO. Global Education Monitoring Report 2023.](https:\u002F\u002Funesdoc.unesco.org\u002Fark:\u002F48223\u002Fpf0000385723)  \n\n[3]  [UNESCO UIS: Mind the Gap: Proposal for a Standardised\nMeasure for SDG 4–Education 2030 Agenda, October 2017](http:\u002F\u002Fuis.unesco.org\u002Fsites\u002Fdefault\u002Ffiles\u002Fdocuments\u002Funesco-infopaper-sdg_data_gaps-01.pdf). ","### Why are people wrong about this?\nMost misconceptions we identify are about improvements that have been neglected. This is the opposite – a problem that is underestimated. People don’t realize how bad the educational outcomes are in most schools across the world, and we don’t fully understand why this particular problem has not gotten more attention, while most other problems are exaggerated in people's minds.\n\n### Why is it a problem if people are wrong about this?\nThe missing resources for improving schools will not be made available if people don’t understand the size of the problem. If parents and politicians believe the currently used teaching methods work just fine, they will probably reject any attempts to modernize teaching practices. Or the opposite, if new teaching methods have been introduced that fail to produce better learning outcomes, then they should be replaced with better methods.\n\n### How is it possible that most children fail reading and math tests?\nFor many decades, a government’s main priority has been to build enough schools and make sure children go there. Nowadays, the majority of children everywhere go to school, which is fantastic. Classrooms are full now, and the problem is instead that headmasters are left without resources to have enough good teachers. Teachers are overburdened with too many young learners. Children who don’t get support with homework at home are left without a chance when the exams come.\nSome children can’t afford the school materials. Others might live in homes where they are unable to study in the evenings because they have to work instead or they are missing electricity to read. It’s extra difficult for children with special needs or disabilities. Sometimes it is as simple as being shortsighted and missing glasses. There are many reasons why you fail an exam.\n\n### Are the children who fail dropouts?\nSome children drop out, but two-thirds of the children who don’t reach the minimum levels in math and reading stay in school. They may be taught by teachers without enough training and experience or teachers who are capable but overwhelmed by the number of students they have to teach.\n\nIf the schools are new, teachers are inexperienced and children are only the first or second generation of their family to go to school, it is hard to expect them to achieve amazing results. It might be only the first step to improving a country. \n\nMany school children across the world are the first generation in their family to attend school. During the previous fifty years the world had been struggling to teach parents to send their children to school. Learning to go to school is the first lesson. Now it’s high time to improve education all around the world, so parents don’t conclude it wasn’t worth it. \n\n### What’s the point in sending everyone to school?\nOne of the reasons a country like South Korea could have its fast economic growth and transform into a high performing economy was that the grandparents of children in the 80s and 90s had been taught to read and write in school. The population was ready to step up.\n\n### Are there big regional differences?\nYes, huge differences! The 2017 report from UNESCO revelaed that more than 80% of children in Sub-Saharan Africa do not reach the minimum level. In Europe and North America that figure is 14%. You can read more about the data and this subject in general in [the 2017 UNESCO report](http:\u002F\u002Fuis.unesco.org\u002Fsites\u002Fdefault\u002Ffiles\u002Fdocuments\u002Ffs46-more-than-half-children-not-learning-en-2017.pdf). \n\n### Where can I learn more?\nSee [UNESCO Global Education Monitoring Report.](https:\u002F\u002Fwww.education-progress.org\u002Fen\u002Farticles\u002Flearning\u002F)\n\n### What do you mean by \"required minimum competence\"?\nMinimum proficiency level (MPL) is the benchmark of basic knowledge in a domain (mathematics, reading, etc.) measured through learning assessments. Currently, there is limited comparability of data from different learning assessments. UNESCO's ongoing work to standardize global proficiency levels is summarized in [this document](http:\u002F\u002Fuis.unesco.org\u002Fsites\u002Fdefault\u002Ffiles\u002Fdocuments\u002Funesco-infopaper-sdg_data_gaps-01.pdf). \n\n### Can I trust this data?\nYes, but there are limitations you should be aware of. Even UNESCO acknowledges that it is difficult to measure how well children have been learning as learning assessment data vary a lot and is hard to compare. We consulted three independent experts on this question, however, and they trusted the source and regarded our correct answer as more correct than the other two answer options.\n","First they learn to be in school"]