Slovak Pupils Perform Best in International Testing of Digital Skills

Bratislava, December 10 (TASR) - Slovak primary and secondary school pupils have once again achieved the best results in the 'IT Fitness Test' international testing of digital skills, excelling in working with the internet, although they struggled when using office tools and resolving more complex tasks, the Digital Coalition reported at a press conference on Tuesday. More than 50,000 pupils and almost 2,500 teachers from Slovak schools participated in the 13th year of testing. "In the 13th year we managed to break all our previous records. The result, both in terms of participation and outcomes, is very good," said chairman of the Digital Coalition Mario Lelovsky, adding that the testing confirmed that the level of digital skills among Slovak pupils is gradually increasing. The results also show that there is a need to focus on correctly evaluating text and understanding its context, as students have problems with this. Lelovsky also noted that secondary school students performed worse year-on-year in the category of security and computer systems. Investment Minister Richard Rasi (Voice-SD) stressed that pupils' results are partly influenced by their background and access to technology and the internet. He noted that pupils that don't own a computer had the worst results in computer and information literacy. The minister added that his ministry is working on an inclusive social vouchers project to improve internet access for students from disadvantaged backgrounds. "Investing in equipping students with digital devices is essential and contributes to a significant improvement in children's digital skills, as this testing has shown," he said. In total, nearly 190,000 participants from five countries - Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Ukraine - took part in the testing. It was available in two versions, for primary and secondary schools, and in six languages. In addition to general IT skills, the testing focused on examining the ability to work with various artificial intelligence tools. Slovak pupils achieved the best overall results among the participating countries in the international testing. Primary school pupils had an average success rate of 52.1 percent, while secondary school pupils achieved an average success rate of 44.52 percent. lin/df