Argentine education in the spotlight: 8 in 10 lack basic math skills

The 2025 PISA test scores have once again raised concerns about Argentine students’ learning outcomes.

The PISA test, designed and administered by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), assesses the knowledge and skills of 15-year-old students in various education systems around the world in math, reading, and science every three years.

It is a standardized assessment with common criteria for all participating countries and not tied to any specific school curriculum. The first edition took place in 2000, and Argentina has participated every time except for 2003.

Argentina’s performance in all three subjects declined compared to the last test in 2022 and was below the OECD average in all three assessed areas.

The result is particularly concerning in math: 76% did not reach the minimum performance level established by PISA. This means that only 24% reached Level 2 or higher. In 2022, the percentage of students below that threshold was 73%.

The country scored 367 points in math, 11 fewer than in the previous assessment. This result represented a 2.9% decline, placing Argentina 75 among 91 participating education systems. 

In Latin America, the country came in eighth out of 13.

Concern over structural problems According to Lucía Vallejo, a data analyst at Argentinos por la Educación (Argentines for Education), an NGO that works to improve the quality and equity of the education system, part of the decline can be explained by regional dynamics that also affected other countries. 

The situation in Argentina, however, reveals a deeper problem.

“The country has been experiencing a steady decline in PISA math scores since 2009, which points to a structural problem,” she explained to Herald sister publication Ámbito.

Furthermore, these warnings extend across the entire curriculum. While some improvements are beginning to appear in reading assessments at the elementary school level, math still shows no consistent recovery at any level.

The situation becomes even more apparent when examining the distribution of results.

Forty-nine percent of Argentine students scored below Level 1a, the highest band within the lowest level, and another 27% barely reached Level 1.

PISA scores in Mathematics in countries of the region and the OECD average (Argentinos por la Eduación) Only 24% reached levels 2, 3, or 4, and there were virtually no students at the highest levels: the report shows 0% at level 5 or higher.

The contrast with the OECD is also significant. While 76% of Argentine students are below the minimum level, the average for OECD member countries is 35%.

Furthermore, 8% of OECD students reach Level 5 or 6 (the highest), compared to virtually no Argentine students.

The challenge, Vallejo adds, is to ensure that math is given the same priority that literacy has received in recent years. This decline, she says, must be addressed through assessment, public debate, and sustained educational policy.

Reading and science are also backsliding In reading, Argentina scored 389 points, 12 fewer than in 2022. The country ranked 62 among 91 countries (eighth among 13 Latin American nations).

Data shows that 59% of students fell below the minimum performance level, four percentage points worse than in 2022. This does not mean that six out of ten “cannot read,” but rather that they do not possess the comprehension skills required for their age and for the test’s level of difficulty.

“We don’t have a problem with critical reading. We have a problem with reading,” said Anabella Díaz, a reading and writing expert who also works in teacher training.

While students can find information when it is presented explicitly, they have greater difficulty inferring what the text does not state directly or distinguishing the main idea from a secondary detail.

The ability to infer is one of the main challenges. It involves connecting ideas that appear in different parts of a text when there is no explicit cue linking them. Added to this is the difficulty of sustaining comprehension when faced with lengthy texts.

Díaz noted that the problem does not begin in high school, nor can it be resolved by addressing a single cause.

“If we read excerpts and brief, simplified texts, we are learning to read in a way that is brief, simple, and fragmented,” she pointed out, emphasizing that critical analysis is the result of a learning journey.

“No one can critically discuss a text they have not fully understood.”

PISA scores in Reading in countries of the region and the OECD average (Argentinos por la Eduación) This situation is also reflected in the highest performance levels. Identifying biases or evaluating the neutrality of a source corresponds to PISA levels 5 and 6. Only 1% of Argentine students reached those levels — one out of 100. 

For Díaz, the mistake lies in thinking that literacy ends when a child manages to decipher what is written. As students progress through school, texts become longer, more complex, and more abstract, and each of these leaps must be supported by instruction. 

“You learn to read what you actually read,” she summarized.

For this reason, the expert argued, reading comprehension skills cannot be left exclusively to the language department, as students must also be taught how to read biology, history, and physics. 

In science — the main focus of the 2025 assessment — Argentina scored 393 points, 13 fewer than in 2022. 

This result placed Argentina 71 out of 91 (eighth in the region). Furthermore, 59% of Argentine students failed to reach the minimum proficiency level in science, compared to the OECD average (26%). Only 1% reached Level 5 or 6.

The summary shows that Argentina regressed in all three assessed areas compared to 2022: 2.9% in math, 3% in reading, and 3.2% in science.

Factors impacting these results Absenteeism and interrupted school careers have a direct impact on learning.

“The impact of absenteeism is tremendous,” said teacher Diego Rubini, though he noted that it would be necessary to cross-reference the absenteeism rate with PISA results to gauge its impact. 

“If a teacher constantly has to review what was covered in the previous class because a student was absent, the curriculum never moves forward,” he explained.

For Rubini, the problem also arises when classes are interrupted due to a shortage of teachers, building issues, or everyday circumstances.

Furthermore, he emphasized that families’ economic situations and excessive workloads are factors that have a significant impact on learning. In this regard, the teacher proposes reevaluating “the current notion of full inclusion without resources,” since many students with disabilities or learning difficulties lack support staff, adapted classrooms, or the necessary conditions for learning.

“It’s crazy to try to learn in that context, both for those students and for their classmates,” he said.

When considering measures to improve outcomes, Rubini argued that education policies should be developed in closer consultation with schools.

“Ministries should visit schools to see what they need,” he stated, and criticized the fact that often “they impose measures or allocate resources that don’t solve any of the schools’ problems.”

Among the priorities he mentioned is improving teachers’ working conditions — salaries, infrastructure, social recognition, and class sizes — to make the profession more attractive and encourage more young people to choose teaching.

He also proposes reducing the bureaucratic burden on teachers and administrators: “There are so many tasks that teaching better often takes a back seat.”

Cover photo credit: Olia Danilevich/Pexels

Originally published in Ámbito