BRUSSELS, Jan 23 (Reuters) – A large number of Belgium’s
future secondary school teachers struggle with basic concepts of
geography, politics and history, a study published on Wednesday
has shown.
Among final year teaching students involved in the study,
one in three could not identify the United States on a map and
almost half did not know where the Pacific Ocean was.
Shown a picture of Mao Zedong, two in three could not
recognise the Chinese Communist leader, with the most common
response being that it was the late North Korean leader Kim
Jong-il.
Researchers at the Limburg Catholic University College
tested 1,000 students in eight teacher training colleges in
Belgium’s Flemish region.
The test, which asked 114 multiple choice questions, was
carried out because students often showed gaps in their general
knowledge, the researchers conducting the test said.
“Nobody is completely taken aback by the results,” Erik De
Winter of the Limburg Catholic University College said.
When asked which political ideology stood for the
redistribution of wealth, higher taxes and state involvement
only one in two answered socialism.
Students who followed the news and read newspapers scored
better in the test than those who said they did not, De Winter
said. He added the college would now carry out further research
to see how the situation could be improved.
The Flemish education ministry said it was already
rethinking the training of its future teachers and would, if
necessary, make adjustments by summer 2013.
(Reporting by Robert-Jan Bartunek; editing by Philip Blenkinsop
and Paul Casciato)
