Armenian students rank last in region in OECD literacy assessment

(Horizon Media / YEREVAN) — Fifteen-year-old students in Armenia are struggling significantly in mathematics, science and reading, with the country recording the weakest results in the region in the latest assessment by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

The study, conducted as part of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), evaluated some 760,000 students across 91 countries. Armenia participated in the international assessment for the first time in 2025.

Armenian students scored below the participating-country average in all three areas and trailed students in Georgia, Azerbaijan and Turkey. Armenia also ranked below Uzbekistan, Moldova, Romania and Kazakhstan, while outperforming only Kyrgyzstan among the post-Soviet countries included in the assessment.

Only about one per cent of Armenian students were among the top performers in mathematics, while virtually none reached the highest proficiency levels in science or reading.

The results were particularly weak among students meeting or exceeding baseline proficiency levels. In science, 28 percent of Armenian students reached that threshold, compared with an OECD average of 74 percent. The figure was also 28 percent in mathematics, against an international average of 65 percent.

Reading produced the weakest result: only 19 percent of Armenian students demonstrated proficiency above the baseline level, compared with an OECD average of 67 percent.

The findings have renewed concerns about what Armenian officials have previously described as “functional illiteracy.” Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said in 2022 that the issue constituted a national security challenge and called for deep reforms in the public education system.

The latest results, however, suggest that the government’s education reforms have yet to produce substantial improvements in learning outcomes.

The report also highlighted student attitudes toward school and their use of technology. Fifteen per cent of Armenian students surveyed in 2025 said they agreed or strongly agreed that school was a waste of time. Students who placed greater value on schooling scored an average of 13 points higher in science.

Nearly half of Armenian students — 49 per cent — said they used artificial intelligence chat-bots at least once a week, slightly above the OECD average of 46 per cent.

OECD researchers noted that digital technologies can support learning when used effectively, but found that academic performance begins to decline when students spend more than five hours a day using digital devices.

The assessment also pointed to a broader international decline in educational performance, particularly in mathematics, science and reading, with fewer students reaching the highest proficiency levels than in previous years.