Turkey performed below the average in the OECD’s latest assessment of 15-year-olds’ mathematics, science and reading skills in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) survey. Students also ranked last in life satisfaction among 73 countries.
December 5, 2023, Duvar English.
The results of the 2022 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), published on Dec.5, indicated that Turkish students performed below average of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development member countries.
The PISA tests are organized to measure 15-year-old students’ ability to use their mathematics, science, and reading knowledge.
PISA 2022 was attended by 196 schools and 7,250 students from 60 provinces in Turkey.
In the field of mathematics, Turkey ranked 42nd among 79 countries in 2018 and improved to 39th among 81 countries in 2022. In the OECD ranking, Turkey held the 33rd position among 37 countries in 2018 and improved slightly to the 32nd position in 2022. However, Turkey’s math score, recorded at 453.15, remained below the average among OECD countries.
Turkey ranked at the top of the « maths anxiety index » and was recorded as the 5th among 76 countries in this context.
In the field of science, Turkey ranked 39th in PISA 2018, and it climbed to the 34th position in 2022. Similarly, in 2018, Turkey was positioned 30th among OECD countries, and in 2022, it moved to the 29th position. Despite this improvement, Turkey’s science score remained “below average” among OECD countries, recorded at 475.94.
In the field of reading skills, Turkey ranked 40th in 2018 and advanced to the 36th position in PISA 2022. Similarly, in 2018, Turkey was positioned 31st among OECD countries, and in 2022, it held the 30th position. Despite this improvement, Turkey’s reading score remained below average at 456.08.
On the other hand, students in Turkey reported “feeling relatively less secure” compared to students in other OECD countries. According to the PISA results, Turkey also ranked the lowest in the area of “life satisfaction” among students from 73 countries.
Despite its relatively low performance among other countries, the report said, “Turkey is one of only a handful of countries whose PISA results improved over a period of more than ten years.”