Overview
- PISA 2025, reported this week, shows an international fall in reading and math with Peru registering only 42% of students at PISA level 2 or higher in reading, 47% in science and 30% in mathematics.
- A Universidad Austral cohort comparison found students tested in 2023 scored 3.6 points lower in total IQ and 8.4% lower in verbal ability than peers tested in 2013, a result based on different groups of children rather than tracking the same individuals over time.
- Argentina’s PISA 2025 profile shows steep recent drops — roughly 11 points in math and 12 points in reading since 2022 — leaving about eight of ten 15‑year‑olds below the minimum level in mathematics and six of ten below minimum in reading and science.
- Coverage and researchers point to growing screen use and social media as contributors to attention and verbal-skill problems, while cautioning that declines are likely multi‑causal and that standard tests may miss some emerging digital literacies.
- Commentators and UNESCO‑based evidence recommend a four‑part, equity‑centered remedy focused on better‑prepared teachers, stronger family support, targeted help for struggling students and purposeful use of technology to prevent long‑term losses in learning and cognitive development.