OECD picks PISA schools, students independently, Tekin says

ANKARA

Minister Yusuf Tekin outlines upcoming curriculum adjustments.

Education Minister Yusuf Tekin on Sept. 15 hailed Türkiye’s performance in the PISA 2025 results, stressing that the students and schools participating in the assessment were selected independently by the OECD and that the process was conducted in a fully impartial manner.

“We did not identify either the schools or the students. We simply took the necessary measures to ensure that the examinations were administered in a controlled and impartial environment selected by the organization itself,” Tekin told the Turkish state-run Anadolu Agency.

According to the results announced by the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), Türkiye was the only OECD country to record improvements across all three core domains assessed.

Tekin said they had held an online meeting with PISA officials approximately 15 days before the 2025 results were released, recalling that the chair of the PISA Governing Board had asked Türkiye to highlight a particular point in its Sept. 8 remarks.

“The chair of the PISA Governing Board told us: ‘There is something that has particularly caught our attention, and we would like you to explain it to other countries in your speech on Sept. 8. Türkiye is demonstrating an extraordinary upward trajectory in its performance. But there is something interesting: This trajectory begins to rise after 2015,’” Tekin quoted the official as saying.

Tekin also said shortening the country’s 12-year compulsory education system was not currently on the government’s agenda, but added that the issue could be revisited if there was sufficient public demand.

“We are not in favor of making such important decisions hastily,” Tekin said in response to a question during the interview.