Parallel Audit on reading literacy in Austria and in Slovenia
In 2019 the Austrian Court of Audit (SAI Austria) and the Court of Audit of the Republic of Slovenia (SAI Slovenia) agreed to engage in a joint project focusing on reading literacy in children in Austria and Slovenia in the period from 2014 to 2018. For this purpose they decided to carry out a parallel performance audit, based on a set of common reference points.
Both Austria and Slovenia pledged to ensure that all youth achieve literacy by 2030 within the scope of the UN sustainable development goal 4 as a necessary skill for the development of all other forms of literacy, such as functional literacy, digital literacy, scientific literacy, technological literacy and academic literacy, to name a few, reading literacy is crucial for the personal and individual empowerment of each individual. It enables active participation of the individual in all areas of life and significantly improves the choices and possibilities for one's wellbeing and economic independence.
Both supreme audit institutions chose PISA study, the OECD's Programme for International Student Assessment, intended to evaluate educational systems by measuring 15-year-old school pupils' scholastic performance on mathematics, science, and reading as a reference point of the joint project. Both countries have been participating in the study for many years and the majority of the children in both countries reach the age of 15 years upon completion of compulsory primary education programmes. Thereby the results of the study offer valuable information and insights not only on the children's achievements but also on the role, impact and efficiency of the national education systems and policies in developing reading literacy in children.
Approaches for the audit
The Sai of Austria looked closely at the promotion of reading skills in primary and lower secondary schools in the school years 2014/15 to 2017/18. The audited entities were the Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research, the provincial school boards/education directorates of Lower Austria and Salzburg and the provinces of Lower Austria and Salzburg. The audit was aimed at presenting the development of the reading proficiency of children as well as assessing the objectives and provisions with regard to the reading literacy of Austrian children, the organizational implementation of the promotion of reading skills in schools as well as measures and resources used to increase reading literacy.
The SAI of Austria addressed the lack of a comprehensive strategy on the improvement of reading literacy in primary schools and lower secondary schools and sees considerable room for improvement with regard to the promotion of reading skills in schools.
The Sai of Slovenia chose a system-based approach to identify the factors and their impact on developing reading literacy in children in Slovenia in the period from 2014 to 2018. The audited entities were the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport, the Ministry of Culture, the National Education Institute Slovenia and the Slovenian Book Agency. The audit was aimed to assess whether the goals and activities for developing reading literacy in children were designed and planned adequately, and whether these activities were performed efficiently. The Court of Audit expressed an opinion that the auditees have been efficient in part in designing, planning and performing activities for developing reading literacy in children and issued several recommendations to improve the operations in the future.
Detailed information on audits and both audit reports are available at both SAIs websites. This was a parallel audit without a joint report but with a joint press release taken as basis for this abstract to provide the context and methodology of the audit.
Source: http://www.rs-rs.si/fileadmin/user_upload/Datoteke/Revizije/2020/Bralna-pismenost/EN/Reading_Literacy-Press_Release.pdf