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The results of the 2023 Saber 11 tests were published by an analysis by Icfes, in which it was known that more than half of the students evaluated were below the national average of 257 points.
The exam was taken by a record number of students throughout the national territory, with 499,952 participants for the Saber 11 tests of the current year, “exceeding by nearly 10,000 the students present in the 2022 tests ,” as the report noted.
The official data also revealed that 83% of those evaluated belonged to an educational establishment, while 17% of those evaluated took the exam individually.
The best performing cities
In this way, according to the preliminary information published by the Icfes, it was determined that the Certified Territorial Entities (CTE) with the best results of said tests would have been Tunja, in Boyacá, with 293 points (taking into account the national average of 257 points out of 500), followed by Floridablanca, in the department of Santander, with 291 points, and Envigado, in the department of Antioquia, with 290 points .
Similarly, the Icfes stated that the departmental ETCs with the best results would have been Bogotá, with an average of 274 points, the department of Cundinamarca, with 266 points and the department of Boyacá, with 262 points.
However, despite the fact that the performance in some municipalities and departments, according to their averages, exceeded the national average by dozens of points, according to the educational entity, the analysis of results would have made it possible to highlight the needs for improvement, among which there are the skills for the subjects of mathematics and English, according to the information published by Blu Radio
But the surprising thing is that, compared to the national report of the Saber 11 Tests of 2022, mathematics had not been one of the opportunities for improvement.
For the previous year, the mathematical tests in students from both calendar A and calendar B showed more favorable results, since the subject would have occupied second place, after critical reading.
In the same way English, which in 2022 ranked third on both calendars. In fact, the natural sciences and social and citizen sciences skills were the disciplines that had the lowest scores, according to the entity's report.
Colombia continues with low scores in English
Despite the attempts of educational institutions to implement much more reinforced programs in English as a second language for Colombians, a study by Education First, whose analysis was published by Portafolio, showed that the level of the language is not advanced in most cases. of the citizens.
Although the report indicates that Colombia would have risen several points, at least 12, compared to 2021, the latest report, published in November 2022, indicated that Colombia would have been in position 77 out of 111 countries analyzed .
Even in mid-2023, Caracol Radio interviewed Christian Marulanda, spokesperson for Maple Bear, a network of bilingual schools, whose teaching approach is immersive. There, Marulanda highlighted that approximately 71% of Colombians have a low level of English .
“These are people who, although they can read a restaurant menu or order something, cannot hold a fluid conversation. In Colombia, parents are increasingly aware of the importance of starting the language learning process from an early age. This does not mean that when you are an adult you cannot learn it, but immersion must be reinforced from a young age,” Marulanda told the media.