On December 5, 2023, representatives from the SSI “Institute of Educational Analytics” attended a presentation on the results of the PISA-2022  international study on the quality of education, which was held in Kyiv.

The study assesses the ability of 15-year-old students to apply knowledge and skills in reading, mathematics, and science in real-life contexts. It is conducted every three years and covers over 80 countries and economies. The PISA 2022 cycle was held not in three, but in four years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which made it impossible to conduct the scheduled study in 2021.

In 2022, Ukraine took part in the study for the second time. Despite the difficulties caused by the full-scale invasion, we managed to gather resources and organize the survey in 18 of the 27 regions of our country.

“Ukraine is the only country to have conducted the study in a time of war. This is a great and crucial achievement. Educational institutions conducted testing despite massive shelling and prolonged air raids in October 2022. Thanks to participation in the study, we have the opportunity to track trends in students’ knowledge and skills both at the country level and at the level of individual groups of students“, said Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine Oksen Lisovyi.

Ukraine joined PISA in 2018, so now we have data with which to compare the previous results. It is important to note that the study was conducted during the war, which means that it may contain additional factors of influence that the PISA methodology does not take into account. In particular, it is not representative of the whole of Ukraine, as students from 18 out of 27 regions of Ukraine took part in the study. Also, in some educational institutions, testing had to be interrupted due to air raids. At the same time, the results allow us to identify the main trends in secondary education at the national level.

However, according to PISA 2022 results, all countries, including those of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), experienced an unprecedented drop in performance in all subject areas. This may be due to prolonged distance learning during the pandemic. In the case of Ukraine, a full-scale war was added.

“The war affects the performance and mental health of schoolchildren in Ukraine and leaves scars that will be felt for a long time. As the PISA results show, it has made it harder for Ukrainian children to succeed in school,” said Munir Mammadzadeh, UNICEF Representative in Ukraine. To address this serious challenge, it is critical to support the joint efforts of the government and education sector partners in developing and implementing a national strategy for education recovery.

In general, the PISA 2022 results were lower than those of the previous cycle, which was expected. This is likely due to a combination of factors related to the pandemic and the full-scale invasion.

The results of this study will guide the Ukrainian education system in moving forward and help draw up an action plan to make up for educational losses and gaps between different groups of students.

The PISA reports are also available on the PISA.UKRAINE website.

Information and photos by the Press Center of the Ministry of Education and Science