Germany’s education minister calls PISA results “alarming” as scores hit record low

Germany’s education minister, Karin Prien, described the country’s latest results in the PISA school performance survey as “alarming,” saying the data show a system struggling on multiple fronts.

“What we are seeing today is without any doubt an alarming finding,” Prien said on Tuesday after the OECD released the international assessment. “It doesn’t make it one bit better, but it is not surprising.”

The figures, she noted, are consistent with trends already visible in other German education studies. “Competence is on the decline and the social divide is further widening,” she said, calling the findings unacceptable. “The promise of social mobility is not being fulfilled in Germany.”

Prien also expressed concern about a widening gap between the best- and worst-performing pupils. “We are succeeding neither in the lower performance segment nor in the upper performance segment in doing justice to the potential of our pupils,” she said.

The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), conducted every three years since 2000 by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, measures the skills of 15-year-olds in reading, mathematics and science. In last year’s test, Germany recorded its lowest scores ever measured in all three categories.

The latest findings are likely to sharpen debate over Germany’s education priorities. Schools have struggled in recent years with teacher shortages, uneven digitalization, and the social consequences of the pandemic. Analysts say the persistent gap in outcomes for students from disadvantaged and immigrant backgrounds will require more targeted investment in early childhood education and flexible support systems.