Worse exam results in distance education, doubts about the suitability of the training method in elementary school / Article

This school year, about 11,000 students are learning via distance learning. Distance learning means a lot of independent work, planning your time, not going to school every day in person. It is chosen by people who work, do professional sports, live outside of Latvia, as well as people who do not want to study in person due to health or other problems. An educational process organized by distance education has its pros and cons.

In April, members of the Saeima Education Commission drew attention to the quality of education in distance learning. The main thing industry experts worry about is success rate and knowledge. This was concluded from the results of the centralized exams.

LTV’s data analysis of last year’s centralized exam results for 9th graders shows that distance learning schools are on average worse than in the country.

Last year, the 9th grade centralized exams were held for the first time.

In English, if the average score in the country was 61.4%, then in schools where only distance education is taught, the level is lower – 54.13%.

In Latvian, the national average is 58.1%, but for students of distance learning programs 46.95%.

Just as everyone had a harder time in the math exam – the national average score for ninth graders was 50.5%, but only 28.68% for distance learning school students.

Average achievements in distance learning schools in the 9th grade exam in Latvian last year, in one school, is above the national average. It is “Rīgas Komercskola”, and 77 students took the exam. Worse ratings for the European Distance Learning High School and “Intelekts” High School – around 30%.

On the other hand, in mathematics, no school has managed to even come close to the national average. Dobele Craft and general secondary school did the worst with five passers and an average rating of 10%. Second place from the end also in mathematics for the European Distance Learning High School. So then

with some exceptions, purely distance learning results are lower than the national average.

Ninth graders Gerda and Nora came to the European Distance Learning High School from face-to-face schools a few months ago.

“It’s easier for me to connect everything with the courses, and there’s just not as much stress as in person,” said Gerda and Nora. “In person, it seemed to me that the whole day was spent at school. If there is another group, then you don’t have time for anything at all. Here we only have classes in the evening, very little. We learn everything anyway.”

This year, both young women have exams ahead of them, and the decision to change schools came shortly before that. Nora says that it was a joint decision for her and her parents to come to distance learning right before the exams. On the other hand, Gerda says that she tried to persuade her mother for about a year.

“It’s much easier for me to learn by self-study, so this was much easier for me,” said Gerda. “It was more or less like a punishment at the attendance school – you go to school every day, get up, then you sit there for hours, but now when I feel the energy to add something, to think about something at home, then I do it too.”

The learning process in distance learning schools takes place remotely and is based on independent work. In the European Distance Learning High School, the main thing is to pass the exams at all.

“What are we not doing so that they reach the 10% threshold so that [eksāmenu] settle. And we are happy for each one,” said the director of the European Distance Education High School, Marina Yefremova.

The school accepts everyone – both from crisis centers and at-risk teenagers. New mothers who have not received education, sophomores as well. Therefore, the results are not so bright, but the main thing is to finish school, and this is also visible in the exam results. Last year, nine students did not finish the ninth grade here because of mathematics. At the European Distance Learning Secondary School, the exam results in Latvian and mathematics were the second worst among all distance learning schools combined, and in English – the third from the bottom.

“This year, we have 22 sophomores studying in the 9th grade. Our own nine and 13 more from other schools who do not want to stay in their school, in a face-to-face school, came,” admitted Yefremova, director of the European Distance Learning High School. “They understand that they’re not going to make it in person the second year in 9th grade. And we understand that, well… there’s not going to be great results.”

Among the distance learning schools in the table of results, Rīga Distance Learning Middle School is about in the middle in Latvian language and mathematics.

Mathematics was the worst – 28.3%. The Latvian language is also worse than the national average, but the English language is better – slightly above the national average. This year, for the first time, the school has decided not to accept absolutely everyone who wants it, but only those students who could pass the exams and study well. Last year, in the 9th grade, 15% of students stayed for the second year – because of mathematics and their own reluctance to study.

“A large part of them stayed with us for a second year, but others gave up. Even among those who stayed and tried, however, they could not motivate themselves and started working,” said Edgars Grīnis, director of the Riga Distance Education High School. “The parents also gave up hope and said, “I can’t force him. He works. He makes money and he feels good. Even without that certificate.””

Ilze Lazda, deputy director of the Riga Distance Education High School and sports teacher, also emphasized the great importance of students’ constant work. The question remains whether such a model is suitable for teaching in primary school.

“In our school, you have to open the learning materials yourself in our learning environment. You have to summarize, complete the test tasks yourself, read yourself,” explained Lazda. “There is no teacher who says – Go, open, read, write down. Now we calculate this. It is not like that. Therefore, it is a very independent work. If the student cannot do it and there is no family support, then it is very difficult.”

The trends in exam results between distance learning schools and face-to-face schools have also been noticed by the Ministry of Education and Science, and they are not good.

“Unequivocally, the majority really showed that there is a 20-30% drop in the overall assessment, which indicates that this learning process is not taking place to its full potential,” admitted the Deputy State Secretary of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, Kristīne Niedre-Lathere. “Sufficient quality. Yes, I do not rule out the fact that we could perhaps also start discussing the fact that distance learning as a form would really be limited to high school. As a form, I emphasize again, it is not to be underestimated.”

There are also distance learning schools that have been denied the right to implement curricula due to quality or other inadequacies.