Minister announces educational reforms to enhance vocabulary skills for Icelandic students

Lilja Dögg Alfreðsdóttir, the Minister of Culture and Business, discussed educational issues during a recent radio interview. She announced that forthcoming changes to the curriculum are aimed at enhancing the professional vocabulary of elementary school students to assist them during exams.

According to the Business Council’s review of the current state of primary education, the situation is described as a state of emergency. Since the abolition of standardized testing in Iceland, there has been a rapid decline in academic performance. Lilja noted that she has closely studied high-performing educational systems, particularly in Estonia and Finland, which excel in PISA assessments, despite Finland’s lack of standardized tests.

She emphasized that it is not simple to pinpoint a single cause for the challenges within the education system, but she welcomes the ongoing discussions among stakeholders, indicating that the matter is of great importance to the public. Lilja highlighted the diminishing specialized vocabulary among Icelandic children, stating that many lack the necessary language skills to tackle reading comprehension tasks or draw logical conclusions.

To address these deficits, significant efforts will be made regarding the development of new educational materials aimed at deepening vocabulary skills. These changes, set to be presented by the current Minister of Education, Ásmundur Einar Daðason, soon, are expected to improve outcomes.

Furthermore, she mentioned the need for a unified assessment process starting at age ten, to create consistency between schools in how grades are assigned and to enhance collaboration between preschool and primary education. Lilja expressed optimism that various reforms initiated during her tenure will lead to improvements, although such results may take several years to materialize.