Faced with the Pisa results, let’s save mathematics

Tribune to save mathematics!

The PISA 2023 rankings were unveiled on December 5, demonstrating the urgent need for an ambitious national plan to strengthen math and science teaching in schools.

In an article published the same day in Le Monde, 180 leading figures from the world of business and education, including 15 international prizewinners, warn of the decline in mathematics and science and the drop in standards that has and will have economic, social and societal consequences, particularly for young girls, and call for the immediate implementation of an ambitious national strategy for mathematics and science, with clear, measurable objectives, a detailed action plan with adequate human and financial resources, and a robust, transparent monitoring and evaluation system.

Read the full article in the attachment

Pisa 2023 rankings: French students plummet in mathematics

On December 5, 2023, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) unveiled its Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) study on the performance of fifteen-year-olds, whether enrolled in public or private schools under contract, in collège or lycée agricole, in general, technological or vocational education.

This test, to be carried out in 2022, measures the skills of 15-year-old students in 85 countries in three areas: reading, mathematical and scientific literacy.

Generally speaking, the OECD refers to an “ unprecedented drop in performance”.

In mathematics, the OECD average is down 15 points on 2018, and 10 points in reading comprehension.

France came 23rd in the ranking, within the OECD average. French students scored 474 points in mathematics, just above the average of 472 points; 474 points in reading comprehension, when the average is 476 points; 487 points in scientific culture, when the average is 485 points.

It ranks 26th in both mathematics and scientific literacy, and 29th in reading comprehension. Its overall results are comparable to those of several European countries, including Germany, Spain, Portugal, Hungary, Italy, Norway and Lithuania.

In France, the drop is staggering, with 21 points lost in mathematics,“the sharp decline observed in France between 2018 and 2022 is the biggest observed since the first PISA study”.

Click on the link below to see the Pisa 2022 ranking .