The results of the 2022 Programme for International Student Assessment, PISA tests, published on Tuesday, showed that pupils in most countries in South-East Europe achieved similar or worse results on average than in the previous tests four years ago.
The PISA tests are a worldwide initiative by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, OECD to measure 15-year-old pupils’ ability to use their mathematics, science and reading knowledge.
The tests explore how well students can solve complex problems, think critically and communicate effectively, giving an insight into how well their countries’ education systems prepare them for real-life challenges.
Globally, the 2022 PISA test results showed a fall in student performance, with OECD educational experts blaming long-term problems in education systems, including lack of investment and support for school pupils as well as the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Albania‘s average 2022 results were down compared to 2018 in mathematics, reading and science.
“Students reported spending significantly less effort on PISA in 2022 in comparison to 2018, and there are clear indications that students did not engage seriously throughout the test and questionnaire. Results must therefore be interpreted with caution,” the PISA survey presentation said.
The worsening of the results in Albania was also linked to infrastructure damage to schools by the 2019 earthquake, which disrupted education for many pupils, the COVID-19 pandemic and the poor state of digital infrastructure, which caused difficulties to for online learning. Albania participated for the first time in PISA in 2001 and had been continuously improving results until 2018.
In Bulgaria, the average 2022 results were down compared to 2018 in mathematics and reading but remained similar in science. Bulgaria’s results were among the lowest ever observed in all three subjects.
In Croatia, the 2022 results were about the same as in 2018 in mathematics and reading, and up compared to 2018 in science. Considering all the results observed over 18 years since 2006, Croatia’s average scores remained remarkably stable in mathematics and reading.
The results for Greece were lower compared to 2018 in mathematics, reading and science. In all three subjects, average performance was lower in 2022 than in any previous estimate, and the sharp drop in scores since 2018 reinforced a decline that started much earlier. From 2012 to 2022, student achievement fell on average in all three subjects.
In all three subjects, the average 2022 results for Kosovo were down compared to 2018. Kosovo participated in PISA testing for the first time in 2015. Since then, the percentage of students scoring below a baseline level of performance has increased by more than five per cent in all three subjects.
Moldova’s 2022 results were about the same as in 2018 in mathematics and down compared to 2018 in reading and science. Moldova participated in PISA for the first time in 2010. Its 2022 results were higher than in 2010 in mathematics and reading, but were back down to near 2010 levels in science.
Montenegro‘s average scores in mathematics, reading and science have experienced a decline compared to the 2018 assessments. In all three subjects, the country’s PISA 2022 average scores were also below those observed in 2015.
North Macedonia also recorded a decline in 2022 compared to 2018. Despite the decline, mathematics results in 2022 remained above those observed in 2015; in contrast, reading and science results returned to the level last observed in 2015.
Romania‘s average 2022 results were about the same as in 2018 in mathematics, reading and science, but in mathematics, average scores were lower than those observed in 2012 and 2015. The overall trend since 2012 in reading and science can be described as flat – neither improving nor declining.
However, the trend is more positive when the expansion of secondary education to previously marginalised populations in the country is also considered. Between 2012 and 2022, the number of 15-year-olds eligible to sit the PISA test increased in Romania. “This suggests that secondary school enrolment increased significantly,” the report said.
Serbia‘s results have been relatively stable over the past decade, since PISA 2012. The average 2022 results were about the same as in 2018 in mathematics, reading and science. Compared to 2012, the scoring has not changed change significantly. Serbia participated for the first time in PISA in 2006, and until 2012 it recorded increasingly better results in all three subjects.
One country that has shown a trend towards improvement is Turkey, whose average 2022 results were about the same as in 2018 in mathematics, down compared to 2018 in reading and up in science.
“Turkey is one of only a handful of countries whose PISA results improved over a period of more than ten years,” the report said.
