The final tests carried out on primary-school graduates across Slovakia have produced worse results than last year, with only 4.4 percent of pupils scoring more than 90 percent of all possible points in Slovak language and mathematics, the National Institute of Certified Measurements of Education (NUCEM) announced on Monday.
The figure for last year stood at 7 percent. Pupils who score at least 90 percent are admitted to secondary schools without having to undergo entrance exams. Pupils from both larger schools and from towns with a population above 15,000 did significantly better in the tests. Also, pupils from schools run by the Church scored higher than their peers from state-run and private schools. Girls were slightly better on average than boys.
The tests have revealed that significantly worse results were posted in districts with high unemployment. The average result for a pupil in maths this year was 54.67 percent, while last year it was more than 60 percent. The average result in Slovak language was 62 percent this year in comparison to 67.51 percent in 2013. The tests carried out in schools with Hungarian as the language of instruction were also worse in a yearly comparison. Pupils scored 56.35 percent in the Hungarian-language tests this year, while last year the average result stood at 62.74 percent.
