Education department backtracks after blaming poor test results on 'overrepresentation' of migrants

Catalonia's education department has backtracked after originally blaming poor results in PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) tests on an "overrepresentation" of immigrant students on Tuesday. 

The Secretary of Educational Policies contacted PISA and cleared up all doubts the department had about the representativeness of the sample. 

The department has now concluded, after contacting the authors of the study, that the sample was correct. 

"From the conversations, the quality of the PISA sample has been clarified. The divergences in the interpretation of the representativeness of the sample have been clarified, and all doubts about the representativeness of the sample with respect to our social reality have been discarded," the department said. 

They added that the department will continue to collaborate with those responsible for PISA in all aspects. 

"No excuses" 

Catalonia's education minister, said there were "no excuses" for the poor results. 

Responding on X to a post from her department expressing "full confidence in the quality and rigor of the tests," Anna Simó said Catalonia "has a problem that we have identified and that we are working to solve." 

"This is about child poverty and school segregation, and this government is working like no one else to address it," she added. 

Below Spanish and OECD average 

Catalonia's results in the 2022 PISA tests fell in all three areas of assessment – mathematics, science and reading comprehension – placing students below the average for Spain and other countries that form part of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).