The results of the Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) revealed a historic drop in learning among developed countries, with declines in Reading and Mathematics at the lowest level ever recorded. Mathias Cormann, Secretary-General of the OECD, presented the data drawing attention to the gravity of the situation. Even countries that were references in education, such as Finland, and new performance leaders, such as Singapore and other Asian nations, recorded significant drops, indicating there are no clear models to reverse the scenario.
Pisa is an international test administered by the OECD every three years that measures student learning in different countries. The program is considered one of the main thermometers of global education and its results serve as a basis for educational policies in various nations.
According to Professor Paulo Blikstein, from Columbia University in the United States, the educational crisis is not due to the fact that schools are not fulfilling their role. For him, factors external to school are making the work of teachers much more difficult and complex, which suggests that the causes of the decline go beyond the traditional school environment.
