Latest PISA survey reveals 4 in 10 Mexican students do not meet basic level in science, math and reading

The latest edition of an OECD-conducted global education evaluation reveals a disturbing decline in the skills of Mexican students: four in 10 15-year-olds are scoring below the basic level in science, mathematics and reading.

The test, called the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), has been administered periodically since the turn of the century; this time to 7,843 students from 297 schools in Mexico. The 41.8% of students who scored below the basic level in the science/math/reading triad was more than double the 19.7% average of all countries in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Mexican 15-year-olds as a whole scored 388 points in mathematics, 408 in reading and 414 in science, all well below the OECD averages of 463, 461 and 482, respectively.

Mexican students aren’t just falling behind their global peers — their own results are slipping too. Since the 2022 PISA, Mexico has dropped seven points in both math and reading, even as it held steady in science.

Overall, the current test results are Mexico’s worst since 2009. 

While it may be a small consolation to parents and the education community, Mexico is far from the only country experiencing a decline. “Globally, we have seen a dramatic drop, particularly in reading skills,” Andreas Schleicher, the OECD’s Director of Education and Skills, said in an interview with the newspaper El Financiero.

If the first step toward turning things around is a positive attitude, it may already be at hand. The OECD highlighted that 80% of 15-year-old Mexican students stated in the PISA test that they are curious about various topics, up by 7% compared to the global average. Another finding revealed that just 11% of respondents agreed that school is a waste of time, compared to the OECD average of 24%.

In another sense, the poor scores may be a case of Mexico being a victim of its own success. As pointed out in a report cited by Animal Politico, “Given the expansion of secondary education to previously marginalized populations, [Mexico’s] results appear somewhat more positive. ”

Meanwhile, Mexico is struggling, along with the rest of the world, with modern impediments to educational performance. According to Education International, the largest global federation of teachers, the decline in student performance can be attributed “to shorter attention spans, excessive use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the global teacher shortage.”

Despite that, the top-performing countries in all PISA areas were China, Singapore, South Korea, Estonia and Canada.