Get to know » Students » Self-reflections:
Student well-being
The PILNA student questionnaire collected information about children’s physical health, mental health, relationships, and material circumstances. The intention was to collect a holistic picture of the well-being of the students who participated in PILNA.
Students were given a list of circumstances, as set out in Table STT1.8, and were asked to indicate how often they experienced them. They could respond with ‘Never’, ‘Sometimes’, ‘Most of the time’, or ‘Always’. For reporting the results, ‘Most of the time’ and ‘Always’ were combined, as they were considered to be materially similar in terms of student experience.
Well-being experiences
Table STT1.8 shows the proportions of year four and year six students who reported experiencing the associated condition at least ‘Most of the time’.
In Tuvalu, 49% of year four students and 54% of year six students reported that they had a good day ‘Most of the time’ or ‘Always’ and 51% of year four students and 52% of year six students reported they looked forward to the next day ‘Most of the time’ or ‘Always’.
Across both year levels, a substantial minority of students reported feeling hungry, tired, upset, or not having enough friends either ‘Most of the time’ or ‘Always’.
Well-being and student performance
A regional scale for student well-being was established, based on the first nine items from Table STT1.8. These items are related to negative well-being experiences, rather than positive well-being experiences. Higher scores on this scale indicate higher, more positive, levels of well-being.
These well-being scale scores were compared with student performance in numeracy and reading. Student performance was grouped into two categories: students who performed at or above the expected level of performance and students who performed below the expected level of performance. There were no comparisons with the writing domain, as the writing proficiency scale is yet to be developed. Figure STF1.6 shows the average well-being scale scores by year level and student performance.
The PILNA scale for student wellbeing has an average of 200 and a standard deviation of 40. Most scores are expected to be within 40 points of 200 (160-240). It was formed from nine out of thirteen questions that students were asked about their wellbeing related experiences using statistical analysis.
Numeracy
Year 4
- 224 6.4
- 225 5.4
Year 6
- 204 5.7
- 214 4.3
Reading
Year 4
- 221 6.5
- 226 6.5
- Scale score for students below expected proficiency level
- Scale score for students at or above expected proficiency level
- Statistically significant correlation (p <0.05)
- Standard errors appear in parentheses
Out of the four comparisons between student performance and well-being scale scores, only one association was found. Year six students who scored at or above the expected proficiency level in numeracy had higher well-being scale scores than those who did not meet this proficiency level.
No other associations were found between performance and well-being scores.
What does this mean?
Only half the students in Tuvalu, at least most of the time, are cheerful, have good days, and look forward to the next day. Many students regularly experience positive well-being but a substantial proportion do not. Also, a substantial minority of students across the region are frequently experiencing challenges to well-being, such as feeling hungry, tired, upset, or not having enough friends.
There was some evidence that year six students who met the expected performance level in numeracy had higher average well-being scores, but no other associations were found.
Regardless of whether well-being is associated with student performance in any way, the identified well-being challenges need to be addressed by stakeholders.
