Iceland spends second-lowest time on science teaching

Iceland devotes less time to science teaching in lower secondary schools than any European country except North Macedonia, mbl.is reports. The finding comes as Icelandic students continue to perform worse in science, reading comprehension and mathematics.

Haukur Arason, an associate professor at the University of Iceland’s School of Education, said a recent study found that one quarter of those teaching science at lower secondary level have no education in the subject.

“That in itself is a major concern,” Arason said during the Dagmál programme this week, where he appeared with Sigríður Ólafsdóttir, an associate professor at the School of Education and a literacy specialist. They discussed the latest PISA results, based on tests taken by tenth-grade students last year.

The results show that Icelandic students’ performance in science, reading comprehension and mathematics has continued to decline, with the country’s position now worse than ever.

Arason referred to figures from a 2022 Eurydice report, which compared the number of hours allocated annually to science teaching at lower secondary level in European countries where data was available. Only North Macedonia allocated fewer hours than Iceland.

Iceland would need to increase its science teaching hours by one quarter to match Norway, by 45 percent to match Sweden and by about half to match Finland, Arason said.

“I think it is urgent to consider the scope of science education,” he said.