Educational standards of achievement in lower primary education: class teachers’ opinions

The quality of education dictates the stability of social development and global economic competitiveness of a country. Namely, “the measure of success for any education and training system should be what people actually learn from it, and how effectively” (Jessup, 1991: 2). Educational standards constitute one of the solutions for raising the quality of education. Uncontestably, they bear immense importance for the general improvement of an education system. However, they are no less crucial for achieving excellence and providing equal opportunities to all students. Likewise, it should be emphasized that educational standards represent a distinctive feature of what is known as the new concept of education or education based on standards. This manner of organizing primary and secondary education originated in America. More specifically, it emerged in the USA, Great Britain, and Australia, but was soon adopted by many countries (e.g., China,India, South Korea, Brazil, Germany, France, and Russia) In fact, over the past three decades, the application of educational standards has spread across the world.