Fifth-graders from a disadvantaged environment achieved significantly worse scores in the nationwide testing than students from a privileged environment. In maths, pupils from a disadvantaged environment scored 22.9% on average, while the other group had 60.9% on average.
In the Slovak language, more than half of disadvantaged fifth graders were able to distinguish a factual text from an artistic one. However, "only 8% were able to identify a comparison in a poem. These students show a significant lack of knowledge in all tested fields," reads the report of the Education Ministry.
The results of the nationwide testing of fifth-graders in Slovak and maths carried out this school year are worse than those reported in the 2017/2018 school year. While the average success rate in maths was 64.7% in the past school year, this school year it was less than 60%, exactly 59.3%. The average success rate in Slovak language and literature in the 2017/2018 school year was 62.8%, while it stood at a mere 58.4% in the current school year.
Fifth-graders from Bratislava schools achieved the best results in both tests in this school year, while the worst results were shown by their classmates from the districts of Gelnica (Kosice region), Revúca, Rimavská Sobota (both Banská Bystrica region) and Kežmarok (Prešov region). "The difference in the success rate in mathematics between the Bratislava I (73.8%) and Gelnica (38%) districts was almost 36%," stated the ministry. A total of 46,360 pupils from 1,487 schools joined the nationwide testing of fifth-graders that took place on November 21, 2018.
