Embracing Digital Skills: 74,207 Students Successfully Complete 2nd IT Fitness Test
Embracing Digital Skills: 74,207 Students Successfully Complete 2nd IT Fitness Test
21 November 2023, Prague – The comprehensive digital competency test IT Fitness Test 2023 V4 and Ukraine for pupils and students of primary, secondary and higher schools exceeded all expectations. In the Czech Republic, 88,695 people took part in the second year of the test and 74,207 respondents successfully completed the assessment.
Additionally, this year’s test partners – Česko.Digital, AAVIT, Microsoft with the support of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic – managed to involve a total of 1,146 Ukrainian pupils. A total of 146,252 respondents took part in the testing across the Visegrad Four countries and Ukraine. The official announcement of the test results was part of the opening day of the Digital Czechia Week, followed by a panel discussion at the Government Office.
The IT Fitness Test V4 + Ukraine project is the most comprehensive free online digital skills test in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Ukraine. The main objective of the project was to measure digital competence and get a clear picture of the IT skills level of the participants tested, assessing their readiness for further studies or employment.
This year, the assesment was organised by the non-profit organisation Česko.Digital in cooperation with the Association for Applied Research in IT (AAVIT). “Thanks to the data gained from the IT Fitness Test, we will finally have a more realistic overview of the level of digital competences of pupils, students, teachers and the general public. A review study by the OSF Foundation, STEM and CZ.Nic from March this year shows that the existing data on digital competences are based only on self-assessment and there is no audit of digital competences of the Czech public. Data from the IT Fitness Test has the potential to fill this gap,” says Martina Habová, marketing and communication lead at Česko.Digital.
34,815 primary school pupils and 33,194 secondary and university students took part in the testing. The average success rate of primary school pupils was 53%, while the average for secondary and university students was 48%. Girls/boys aged 14 years were the most represented in primary schools, and students aged 16 years in secondary schools and colleges.
“We are thrilled that the 2nd edition of the IT Fitness Test in the Czech Republic ended up being a huge success – testing ten times as many people as in 2022. From our association’s perspective, which represents the interests of the IT and digital sector, this is one of the steps that should help trigger an important discussion about the impact of digital competences on the Czech economy. Czech companies can only implement modern digital technologies if their employees know how to use them effectively and safely. Digital education must start at primary and secondary school level and must be conducted in a way that motivates young people to further deepen their skills in this area”, adds Jaromír Hanzal, Director of the Association for Applied Research (AAVIT).
The Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic, the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs of the Czech Republic, the Confederation of Industry and Transport of the Czech Republic and the Deputy Prime Minister for Digitisation and Minister for Regional Development Ivan Bartoš have taken over the expert patronage of the project for this year.
The development of digital skills in a lifelong perspective is one of the priorities not only for the Czech Republic, but also at the European level in the context of meeting the common digital goals for 2030 within the EU. “I see the results of the IT Fitness Test as a useful assessment of the digital skills of pupils so that they can be used to prepare further measures and activities to meaningfully and effectively develop the digital skills not only of pupils but also of adults in the Czech Republic,” concludes Martin Úlovec, Commissioner for Digital Education and Digitalisation at the Ministry of Education.
Mapping and enhancing digital skills for the needs of the Ministry of Education and individual education actors are supported by the new Digital Education pillar of the Digital Czech Republic strategy, as well as by the European strategy and legislation that are part of the Digital Decade 2030 programme. International cooperation with European Union member states, including with Ukraine, is also an important part of achieving the objectives of digital education.
The first IT Fitness Test data report is available upon request. The full report with all data will be published during January 2024.
About Czech.Digital:
Česko.Digital operates as a community of expert volunteers who use their free time to help the government and non-profit sectors with technology. In its first three years, the community’s projects have reached 4,000,000 people. Česko.Digital played a key role during the pandemic, when it took part in the projects Let’s Give Blankets and Covid portal, and after the outbreak of the war in Ukraine it took part in the project We Stand for Ukraine. For more about the community, visit www.cesko.digital.
Media contact: Martina Habová, martina@cesko.digital
About the Association for Applied Research in IT (AAVIT):
AAVIT is an association for the promotion of applied information technology and digital transformation. It advocates for the profitable export of digital services, software and hardware. AAVIT defends the interests of the IT sector at national and European level, including through its membership in DIGITALEUROPE. It brings together members of all sizes – from global companies to start-ups. In the Czech Republic, it represents the Laptops for Ukraine initiative. To learn more about the association, visit www.aavit.cz.
Media contact: Jaromír Hanzal, hanzal@aavit.cz, +420 732 737 030.
