According to Wikipedia, “The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is a worldwide study by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in member and non-member nations intended to evaluate educational systems by measuring 15-year-old school pupils’ scholastic performance on mathematics, science, and reading. ” The study which began in 2000 and conducted every three years has been showing a decline in scores since 2012 but showed an alarmingly sharp drop in the last edition in 2022. That drop was blamed on the pandemic induced disruption in schooling. However, the 2025 study whose results came out earlier this month, shows a worryingly sustained drop: “Educators can no longer blame it all on covid-19 lockdowns, which badly messed up lessons and caused PISA grades to drop. The pandemic is now over, but scores have continued to fall roughly as fast. In 35 rich countries that take part in the tests, a typical 15-year-old now reads no better than a 14-year-old did a decade ago. A slow-motion disaster is under way.
Test scores are not the full measure of a child. But they are a good predictor of desirable outcomes and a bulwark against many of the worst ones. Kids who do well on tests tend to earn more, live longer and healthier lives, and commit fewer crimes. By one estimate, pushing up PISA scores by a mere quarter of a standard deviation might increase annual growth in rich countries by half a percentage point.”
This article debunks the belief that traditional scholastic skills may be irrelevant in an AI driven world: “…adapting to a world of rapid, AI-driven change will require more mental agility, not less. And precisely because AI will increase the temptation for people to outsource difficult cognitive tasks, schools have an extra duty to help pupils exercise their brains and acquire the hard habits of thinking. Failure to furnish them with the basic building blocks of a well-developed mind, such as literacy and numeracy, is inexcusable.”
It points to evidence that puts the blame on smartphones and social media: “PISA scores began drifting downwards around 2012. The evidence is growing that tablets, mobile phones and other such screens are distracting youngsters from their studies and diverting them from hobbies, like reading books, that instil the ability to focus. So limits on screens seem prudent. About half of countries now ban mobile phones from schools to some extent; more should follow. Used carefully, technology can benefit classrooms. More usually, snazzy new tools and devices just get in the way.”
How does the world fix it?
“There is little evidence that shovelling more cash into schools will make much difference: Japan spends 30% less per pupil than America and gets much better results. But research needs a big boost. Teaching, as a profession, remains shamefully uninterested in the evidence about which techniques work best. Education departments in universities contain some of the weakest and most radical staff, often keener on abstract ideas of social justice than the more concrete benefits that better grades might bring to pupils.
Places that have avoided declines deserve more attention. Britain is one. In 2009 its pupils scraped into the world’s top 30 in maths and reading. Now they sit in the top ten. Some of this stems from a return in England, under a previous Conservative government, to old-fashioned things such as rigorous exams, tough inspections and fact-filled curriculums.”
Indeed, countries that have topped this year’s scores demonstrate this rigour: China, Singapore, Taiwan. See here for more details.
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