PISA 2025: Students in North Macedonia continue to rank below the international average

Data from the Programme for International Student Assessment, PISA, show that 15-year-olds in North Macedonia scored below the average for developed countries in mathematics, reading and science. The average score in mathematics was 369 points, while students scored 342 points in reading. In science, the main assessment area for this cycle, the average score reached 378 points.

Only 32 percent of students in the country surpassed the basic level of knowledge in mathematics. In reading, 26 percent reached this level, while in science, the minimum level of competence was achieved by around 36 percent of students.

The 2025 PISA results reflect a significant global decline in performance in reading and mathematics.

The reading rankings are led by six Asian countries, including Singapore, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. Germany ranks 23rd, just above the average, while the United States ranks 13th, Poland 14th and Turkey 16th. In mathematics, Germany ranks 26th, below the average and only one place ahead of the United States. The top seven countries in this field are Asian, while Estonia ranks 8th.

In the natural sciences, Germany ranks 23rd, with a score only 2 points above the average. Turkey has recorded a considerable improvement and ranks 19th, registering an increase of 18 points compared with the 2022 study.

The results show that students have difficulty interpreting simple data and understanding graphs in science. In reading, the problem is related to extracting information even from simple texts. In mathematics, meanwhile, they struggle to understand the relationship between units and price, a basic skill when buying food.

The study’s authors link this decline, among other things, to school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic. They say that artificial intelligence has also had an impact, becoming a source of digital distraction, as has students’ increasingly limited interest in reading books.

PISA was first conducted in 2000 and is considered the world’s most influential measure for assessing educational performance./Alsat/