French minister of education Gabriel Attal announced a series of measures on Tuesday to address the decline in academic performance following the 2022 Pisa study, which highlighted a "historic" decrease in French students' proficiency in mathematics, reports RFI.
After months of consultations with educators and in response to the publication of the 2022 "Pisa" study by the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) that showed abysmal results for France, Gabriel Attal, speaking to journalists, expressed the need to tackle the "challenge of raising the standard." i
The Pisa ("Programme for International Student Assessment") study, having measured academic performance in 81 countries, including those in the OECD, reveals a "historic" decline in French students' proficiency in mathematics and a significant drop in reading comprehension, following an overall global decrease.
Overall, 2022 results are "among the lowest ever measured by Pisa in all three subjects," according to a note at the OECD website. In mathematics, the large decline observed over the most recent period is "unprecedented, and follows a period of relative stability."
However, says the study, in reading the decline began already around 2012.
The study also found that over the most recent period (2018 to 2022), the gap between the top 10 percent highest-scoring students and lowest 10 percent "did not change significantly in mathematics and reading, while it widened in science." In mathematics, the study says, performance dropped to "a similar extent" for both high- and low-achievers.