Less Than Half Of Pacific Year 4 Students Meet Minimum Reading Benchmarks, Report Finds

Christina
Persico RNZ Pacific Senior bulletin editor

A new
report says less than half of year four students in the
Pacific region reached the minimum expected proficiency
level of reading in 2025.

The Pacific Community (SPC)
has released its 2025 Pacific
Islands Literacy and Numeracy
Assessment.

Forty-four percent of Year 4 students
reached the reading minimum proficiency standard.

For
boys, this dropped to 38 percent, and for girls it went up
to 50 percent.

Writing and numeracy was better, with
70 and 72 percent proficiency, respectively.

For Year
6 students, 70 percent reached minimum proficiency in
numeracy, 54 percent in reading, and 53 percent in
writing.

Boys’ achievement was also behind girls’ in
this year bracket.

These figures were garnered from
surveying approximately 41,000 students in each
subject.

The numbers that participated in each of the
three tests (numeracy, reading and writing) for each year
group varied slightly because some students did not complete
all three.

The assessment was administered in 15
countries and in 10 languages (English and nine languages
identified by the participating countries).

The
figures include most Pacific countries, but not Papua New
Guinea, the French islands, the Marianas, Guam or American
Samoa.

The assessment was implemented in Papua New
Guinea in 2025, but the response rates from PNG’s data
collection did not meet the technical standards, so PNG 2025
data was not used in calculating regional
averages.

Wellbeing a concern

The report said
only around half of the students participating in the survey
reported positive experiences at school.

A majority
said they had been bullied at school.

“Around a third
of students reported being tired, and around one in five
reported being hungry or sad at school,” the report
said.

“Around one in ten students reported
difficulties such as not having clean clothes or shoes for
school and not being able to sleep or eat because they felt
worried.

“An association was found between student
performance and bullying levels, with students more likely
to achieve the minimum expected proficiency levels for each
subject domain if they experienced low levels of bullying.
This does not establish a causal link, however.”

More
than three-quarters of students had teachers who reported
feeling stressed at work and overwhelmed by their
job.

However, almost all students had teachers who
reported being proud of their work and who found their work
fulfilling and
inspiring.

Recommendations

Issues highlighted
in the report included textbook availability and a shortage
of teaching materials.

“The most commonly reported
hindrances to curriculum implementation in 2025 were student
absenteeism, inadequate instructional materials and teacher
shortages, with around half of the students in the region
attending schools with these obstacles.”

The report
makes several recommendations for governments and regional
entities, including promoting reading as a national
priority, and doing deeper studies at the local level for
clearer insights into specific issues.

Teachers are
recommended to develop specific activities to support
readers who are struggling, and develop and implement
activities to encourage comprehension, not just finding the
answers.

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