Education minister wants pupils 'qualified for life'
Pisa education ranking goal target is scrapped
(35 minutes later)
Children in Wales should be "qualified for life", under a new plan aimed at boosting the performance of schools.
The target to put Wales into the top 20 best-performing countries in education by next year has been scrapped by Education Minister Huw Lewis.
A strong workforce, an engaging curriculum, respected qualifications and co-operation to drive up standards have been named by Education Minister Huw Lewis as objectives for 2020.
Wales fell behind the rest of the UK in the last Pisa international school test results for science, maths and reading released last December.
He said the result would be "a more equitable and successful society".
Wales' average score is 468 and Mr Lewis has now set a new target score of 500 by the year 2021.
An annual national "report card" will show how Welsh education performs against a range of measurable targets.
The average score for countries is 500 points.
Standards of literacy and numeracy have already been identified as priorities following a poor ranking for Wales in the international Pisa education league tables.
As a comparison, Scotland scored over 500 points last year, which means that the new target for Wales in 2021 would put it on a par with Scotland in 2013.
'Potential developed'
Mr Lewis had told BBC Wales last December that ditching the target was the easy way out and he did not want to lower pupils' ambitions.
The "Qualified for Life" plan sets out government aims for education of three to 19 years olds by 2020.
In the most recent results in maths, 15-year-olds in Wales scored 468 points on average, compared with 498 in Scotland, 495 in England and 487 in Northern Ireland.
"The benefits of an excellent education system are well understood," said Mr Lewis.
In last year's PISA reading test Wales scored 480, but Scotland scored 506 points, England scored 500 and Northern Ireland 498.
"High quality education drives economic improvement, increases general well being and results in a more equitable and successful society. This is absolutely what I want for Wales.
Meanwhile, in last year's PISA scores in science, Wales scored 491, England 516, Scotland 513, and 507 in Northern Ireland.
"The Qualified for Life document sets out my vision that learners in Wales will enjoy teaching and learning that inspires them to succeed, in an education community that works co-operatively and aspires to be great and where the potential of every child and young person is actively developed.
The Pisa tests, which are published by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), were taken by 500,000 15-year-olds in 68 countries last year.
"Underpinning all of this is the simple aim that every child and young person should benefit from excellent teaching and learning."
Mr Lewis added that while the plan had been developed using international evidence of best practice, it was also about "doing things the Welsh way and building on Wales' strengths as a bilingual nation".
