Wednesday, September 9 2026 18:20
Aline Grigoryan

Armenian schoolchildren lag behind neighboring countries in most indicators, according to OECD research.

Armenian schoolchildren lag behind neighboring countries in most indicators, according to OECD research.

ArmInfo. Armenian schoolchildren performed below the OECD average in mathematics, reading, and science literacy. This is according to the results of the OECD's Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA).

According to the results of the study, published on the organization's website, the proportion of students in Armenia who demonstrated the highest results in at least one subject was lower than the OECD average. It is noted that virtually no students in Armenia achieved the highest results in science literacy, that is, students who achieved levels 5 or 6 (the OECD average is 7%).

"Only 1% of students in Armenia demonstrated the highest results in mathematics, that is, they achieved levels 5 or 6 in the PISA mathematics test (the OECD average is 8%)." "About 19% of students in Armenia achieved level 2 or above in reading literacy (the OECD average is 69%). There were virtually no students in Armenia who achieved level 5 or above in reading literacy (the OECD average is 6%)," the study says.

As for the results of 15-year-old students in the four PISA 2025 domains, Armenia, according to the source, scored about 369 points in natural sciences, which is lower than the results of Turkey (about 495 points); Georgia (about 420 points); and Azerbaijan (410 points). That is, the gap between Armenia and Georgia is approximately 50 points, with Azerbaijan - about 40 points, and with Turkey - more than 120 points. "In mathematical literacy, Armenia received 376 points. In comparison, Turkey scored about 460 points; Georgia - about 384 points; Azerbaijan - about 374 points," the graph notes.

Thus, Armenia is practically on par with Azerbaijan and only slightly behind Georgia - by about 8 points, but the gap with Turkey remains significant - about 85 points. Regarding reading literacy indicators, Armenia scored 348 points, while Turkey - about 470 points; Azerbaijan

- about 420 points; Georgia - about 415 points. It turns out that Armenia lags behind Georgia by about 67 points, behind Azerbaijan - by about 74 points, and the gap with Turkey exceeds 120 points.

In the computational solution of problems, according to the graph, Armenia also ranks last among the four neighboring countries shown in the graph. The results look approximately as follows: Türkiye - 470 points; Georgia - 410 points; Azerbaijan - 385 points; Armenia - 354 points.

The report notes that in 2025, more than 760,000 students from 91 countries and economies took the PISA test in science, mathematics, and reading, representing approximately 33 million 15-year-olds worldwide. The top performing Chinese jurisdictions in PISA 2025 in these three areas were Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang, as well as Singapore. Additionally, Estonia, Japan, Korea, Macao (China), Chinese Taipei, and the United Kingdom ranked among the top ten education systems.

Overall performance across OECD countries declined, with average scores in science, reading, and mathematics reaching their lowest levels on record. However, some improvements are also observed; For example, among OECD countries, Costa Rica, the Slovak Republic, Turkey, and the United Kingdom have shown improvement in science scores since 2022. Overall, reading scores have declined particularly sharply over the past three years, including in the skills most crucial in the AI age: evaluating information, making connections between different sources, and critically understanding what they read. The incidence of "speed reading"—where students read quickly but inaccurately—nearly doubled to 9% between 2018 and 2025. PISA results reveal uneven educational achievement, with learning outcomes significantly stagnating or continuing to decline in many countries. In science, the primary focus of PISA 2025, average scores declined slightly in OECD countries between 2015 and 2025, while remaining broadly stable in other countries and economies. In mathematics, average scores fell by 22 points between 2015 and 2025 in OECD countries, with declines also observed among non-OECD countries. The sharpest decline was recorded in reading, with scores falling by 28 points in OECD countries and 16 points in other countries and economies between 2015 and 2025.

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