(DHA Photo)
Türkiye’s performance in the 2025 cycle of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is a “success story” that deserves close attention worldwide, OECD Director for Education and Skills Andreas Schleicher said in a video message congratulating the country’s education community.
Schleicher said Türkiye was among the few education systems where student performance improved across all three core areas — mathematics, reading and science — between 2022 and 2025. He also highlighted a significant decline in the share of low-performing students since 2015, saying the trend showed progress in equipping more young people with foundational skills for lifelong learning and future opportunities.
“What you have achieved in this latest round of the OECD’s PISA assessment is not just good news for Türkiye, it’s a story the world should pay attention to,” Schleicher said.
He stressed that the results were not simply the product of one successful year, describing Türkiye as a school system “truly on the move.” He also pointed to students’ increasingly positive perceptions of their learning environment and teachers. According to PISA data, seven in 10 students said their teachers take a close interest in their learning, continue explaining material until they understand it and provide additional support when needed.
Schleicher also cited students’ curiosity, perseverance and belief that their abilities can improve through effort, feedback and practice as encouraging signs.
He further noted that Turkish students make enthusiastic use of digital technologies, including AI, and said efforts to address shortages of devices could turn this potential into an advantage. However, he cautioned that technology should ultimately be used to make learners more capable rather than merely make processes easier.
The latest results also revealed a notable shift in the performance of Türkiye’s public and private schools, with public schools outperforming private schools across all three core PISA domains.
According to a report by the Education Ministry, public schools recorded average scores of 497 in science, 475 in reading and 464 in mathematics in PISA 2025.
In science, public schools scored 22 points higher than private schools. Public schools also exceeded the OECD average of 482, while private schools remained seven points below it.
Public schools likewise led in reading, scoring 475 against 449 for private schools. Their average was 14 points above the OECD average of 461, while private schools scored 26 points below public schools. In 2022, the respective scores were 458 and 448.
In mathematics, public schools recorded 464 points, one point above the OECD average of 463, compared with 444 for private schools. Public schools had scored 455 in 2022, while private schools recorded 447.
The advantage extended to PISA 2025’s computational problem-solving component, where public schools outperformed private schools by 22 points.
Schleicher said the opportunity ahead was to sustain this progress while ensuring that every child benefits from it. “Türkiye’s most valuable natural resource is the talent, imagination and potential sitting in your classrooms today,” he said.
