The cautionary lesson from Finland on PISA scores
A system once held up as a model for others has not held up well.
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The Finnish model prizes flexibility and autonomy for pupils and “transferable skills” while placing less emphasis on core subjects and standardised testing or performance rankings.
PHOTO: ST FILE
John Burn-Murdoch
When the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) study of teenage reading, mathematics and science abilities around the world showed a marked drop in 2022, many hoped this was a short-term hit from pandemic learning disruptions. The 2025 figures published a few days ago showed the opposite: a steepening of the decline.
All told, the results show 15-year-olds in high-income countries today are roughly 1½ years behind their 2015 counterparts in terms of literacy, knowledge and reasoning skills.