TOKYO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--SPRIX Research Institute, operated by SPRIX (Headquarters: Toshima Ward, Tokyo)(Representative Director and President: Hiroyuki Tsuneishi) has implemented two surveys designed to better understand the state of education around the world. Both surveys target children and their parents or guardians in eleven different countries. The first survey was an awareness survey, focusing on learning, and the second was a knowledge survey, focusing on the measurement of basic academic skills.

Each of the surveys involved one thousand respondents in each country, for a total of 22,000 children, parent, and guardian respondents. Results indicate that countries with higher levels of learning consistency and retention for basic academic skills also have higher rates of parent or guardian involvement in the child’s learning. Basic academic skills survey results also markedly indicate higher response rate trends when a child’s future profession is clearly known.

Survey Result Highlights

1. The average response rate for basic academic skills survey results exceeded seventy percent in Asia. Results of Europe and the United States were generally lower.
   We saw clear regional differences in learning consistency and retention rates for children aged fifteen and lower.
2. Children from countries with higher rates of learning consistency and retention have a clearer vision for their future.
   Children with a clear vision of their future have a marked interest in school classes and self-study.
3. All surveyed countries are aware of the importance of basic academic skills.
   That said, some differences were seen in approaches to learning in Asia and Europe and the U.S.
4. Satisfaction in school classes exceeded eighty percent. Pandemic shifts to online learning have become prominent. More than seventy percent of parents and guardians wanted a knowledge survey to regularly examine the difficulty of online classes during pandemics like COVID-19.

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1. The average response rate for basic academic skills survey results exceeded seventy percent in Asia. Results of Europe and the United States were generally lower.
We saw clear regional differences in learning consistency and retention rates for children aged fifteen and lower.

Within the basic academic skills survey conducted by SPRIX, targeting children aged fifteen or younger in eleven different countries, the response rate for countries in Europe and the U.S. were low. Conversely, response rates for countries within Asia were, on average, at seventy percent or higher. We saw a regional difference in basic academic skills learning consistency and retention rates.

Chart Title: Average Response Rates (as Percentages) for Basic Academic Skills Survey Directed at Children Aged Fifteen and Younger Across Eleven Countries

2. Children from countries with higher rates of learning consistency and retention have a clearer vision for their future.
Children with a clear vision of their future have a marked interest in school classes and self-study.

Surveying children on their future saw consistently high scores for medical professions, technology and engineering professions, and education professions across most countries. There were no major differences for future professions among the eleven countries. As technical innovations increase the role of IT and digital technologies within service roles in each industry, we believe that children will be increasingly interested in technical, engineering, and programming professions.

Chart Title: Professions Children are Interested In

We did, however, see regional differences in regard to a child’s clear vision of a future profession. With the exception of Japan, children in other Asian countries had a much clearer vision of a future profession when compared to their counterparts in Europe and the United States. Given how closely the results map to distribution of results for countries where basic academic skills are retained, we believe these results are correlated.

Chart Title: Rates (as Percentages) of Children Having Either No Identified Future Profession or Having Not Yet Decided on a Future Profession

Furthermore, children in countries where results indicated a clear future profession also expressed positive feelings for their classes in school. In addition, trend lines for interest in studying outside of school were high. The survey clearly indicated very high levels of learning motivation.

Chart Title: Rates (as Percentages) of Children who Think Schoolwork is Interesting

Chart Title: Average Study Time (in Hours) Outside of School Classes

3. All surveyed countries are aware of the importance of basic learning.
That said, some differences were seen in approaches to learning in Asia and Europe and the U.S.

The awareness for parents and guardians of their children’s basic academic skills was very high, exceeding ninety percent for parents and guardians across the eleven surveyed countries who believe that basic academic skills are important. The survey also clearly indicated that roughly ninety percent of parents and guardians want to improve their children’s basic academic skill levels and want to involve themselves to see that it happens. We see that respondents from countries across the world agree to importance of basic academic skills, given the belief that such knowledge is very necessary, or otherwise indispensable for their children’s study.

Chart Title: Awareness (as Percentages) of Basic Knowledge for Parents and Guardians in the Eleven Countries

Chart Title: Skills (as Percentages) Believed to be Needed in Addition to Studying

In addition, the percentage of parents and guardians, excluding Japan, who understand basic academic skills is high. In most countries, parents and guardians understand their children’s basic academic skills and we can see that their awareness of basic academic skills is also high.

Chart Title: Rates (as Percentages) of Children and Parents or Guardians who Understand Basic Academic Skills

When we surveyed on awareness specific to a parent or guardian’s involvement in their child’s learning, parents and guardians in all eleven countries were extremely involved, with results averaging at more than ninety percent for involvement that includes prompting children to study and rewarding children for studying. We did however see regional differences for Asia and Europe and the U.S. when it came to involvement such as parents or guardians teaching their own children, grading their children’s homework, or developing study schedules for their children. Parents and guardians from countries with higher rates of academic skill survey responses were more actively involved in the details of their children’s studying, including creating schedules for learning independent of their children, and grading their children’s homework, rather than leaving it to their children.

Chart Title: Involvement (as Percentages) in a Child’s Learning Across All Eleven Countries

4. Satisfaction in school classes exceeded eighty percent. Pandemic shifts to online learning have become prominent.
More than seventy percent of parents and guardians wanted a knowledge survey to regularly examine the difficulty of online classes during pandemics like COVID-19.

We surveyed how parents and guardians support the schools at the center of their children’s academic skills education. Respondents from all eleven countries rated schools highly, with responses that included their satisfaction with the lessons provided by the school, their children attend classes, and sufficient academic skills are taught in school classes. Given that approximately eighty percent of respondents in all eleven countries indicated that they trust the school’s testing results, we believe this is indicative of a high level of satisfaction for school education. Conversely, many schools have been forced to reconsider class formats as a means of combating the spread of COVID-19 infections, and several strategies for online learning were implemented, including online classes over a tele-meeting app like Zoom, the offering of digital content, and the sharing of class videos by the teacher.

Chart Title: Rating (as Percentages) of School Classes by Parents and Guardians in the Eleven Countries

Chart Title: School Responses (as Percentages) in the Eleven Countries to COVID-19

It was also clear that the impact of COVID-19 on children’s learning was significant and that many parents and guardians believe that approaches like individualized learning, regular reviews of academic skill levels, and learning opportunities outside of school are needed. Four out of five parents or guardians want national standards to be used to rate academic skills, and three out of four want global standards to be used. These results indicate that many parents and guardians are aware of the state of their children’s learning.

Chart Title: Things Needed (as Percentages) during a COVID-19 Pandemic for Children’s Learning in the Eleven Countries

Chart Title: Awareness (as Percentages) of Academic Skill Evaluations Both Domestically and Abroad in the Eleven Countries

Some Words from Shuhei Umeda, Director of SPRIX Research Institute

For more than twenty years, SPRIX has been providing educational services to Japanese children, predominantly those who are not good at studying and who would be ranked at medium or lower levels of academic skill.

This research study has indicated the differences with regard to learning in Asia and Europe and the United States. For countries within Asia, motivation levels are high for the learning of basic academic skills. We also learned the different approaches employed in learning. We believe the results will serve as an excellent reference for countries where academic skill test results are not that high.

This type of research survey, specializing in basic academic skills, has never before been conducted on a global scale. The findings, however, represent the merest fraction of possible results. Furthermore, the launched Test of Fundamental Academic Skills (TOFAS) that grew out of the research results has already been taken by more than 30,000 people in ten countries around the world. Plans call for ongoing implementation moving forward. If persons in other countries are interested in this type of research, and wish to assay and study ways to improve basic academic skills for children, we would be happy to work on further development.

SPRIX Research Institute, Overview

SPRIX Research Institute focuses on basic academic skills, and was established to correctly evaluate children’s academic skills and to ensure the consistency and retention of those skills. That focus on basic, foundational academic skills serves as the research institute’s starting line for improving those skills. When those skills are properly in place, children have a wider range of futures to choose from, offering them new opportunities for their lives. Our mission as a research institute is to further the research and development needed for the consistent retention of basic academic skills for children not just in Japan, but the world over.

The original source-language text of this announcement is the official, authoritative version. Translations are provided as an accommodation only, and should be cross-referenced with the source-language text, which is the only version of the text intended to have legal effect.

Contacts

Members of the Press should direct inquiries to:
SPRIX Public Relations (for initial contacts)
PR Leads: Ririna Matsui, Nao Aoyama
Tel: +81-3-5572-6062
Fax: +81-3-5572-6065
Email: sprix@vectorinc.co.jp