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For the second consecutive year and due to the Covid-19 pandemic , the Ministry of Education (Minedu) decided to postpone the Sample Evaluation of Students 2021, which sought to measure the learning achieved in public and private schools in the country.
According to Ministerial Resolution No. 218-2021-Minedu, published yesterday in El Peruano, This year there has been evidence of a low coverage of face-to-face education and blended, which puts at high risk the execution of the November test, as well as its objective: "to obtain valid, reliable, comparable, representative and impartial information on the achievements obtained."
This 2021 Sample Evaluation was to be applied to second, fourth and sixth grade students and to those in second and fourth year of secondary school.
In the case of the first group, learning in reading, mathematics and personal social learning was to be measured (the latter in sixth). Meanwhile, second grade students were going to take tests in reading, math, social sciences, and science and technology; while in the fourth year it was going to be evaluated in mathematics and personal development, citizenship and civics.
From the Minedu they specified that it is not yet possible to ensure that all schoolchildren have had the same opportunities to develop learning during virtual classes.
They also reported that the Office for the Measurement of the Quality of Learning has been commissioned to develop a proposal to have clear information on the current situation of Regular Basic Education students.
It should be noted that this is the second postponement. In 2020, the Census Evaluation of Students (ECE) and the Sample Evaluation were canceled. However, the Minedu also carried out the study called "Situation of student learning in the context of health emergency ESAE 2020-II". The results have not yet been published. And, according to experts, the situation would be very critical.
A diagnosis is urgent
“(The postponement of the test) is a complex issue. While there are many limitations to virtuality, yesthere is a need to know what and how much schoolchildren are learning; especially to be able to define public policies and strategies for the coming years, ”said education specialist Hugo Díaz.
He also stated that it is not a question of justifying some measures that have been taken (such as I learn at home), but of having a more realistic diagnosis.
For his part, the general secretary of Sutep, Lucio Castro, responded that teachers have been making an effort so that students do not stop learning at this time. "We need them not to fill us with bureaucratic procedures and give us time to prepare our classes."