PISA student assessments: President Erdogan says Türkiye sees improved ranking in reading, math, and science

The ranking of Turkish students in science, mathematics and reading -- the three core subjects assessed under the 2025 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) -- rose 50%, said the nation’s president on Monday.

Speaking at a ceremony in the capital Ankara marking the start of the 2026-2027 school year and the opening of newly completed education investments, Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the latest PISA results confirmed the country’s progress in education.

According to the PISA 2025 report, which included 91 countries, Türkiye saw the largest increase in scores among OECD countries in science, mathematics, and reading, he said.

“Türkiye’s ranking in all three areas rose 50%. We became the only country to significantly improve its performance in all three,” Erdogan said.

He added that Türkiye was also the only OECD country to improve performance among both advantaged and disadvantaged groups of students in terms of equal opportunities.

Erdogan congratulated teachers, students, and parents who contributed to the results.

He also criticized attempts to downplay the assessment results, saying the achievement should be a source of pride for the Turkish nation.

Erdogan said Türkiye’s young people are increasingly achieving success not only in education but also in sports, arts, science, and other fields.

“Despite some constant pessimistic scenarios, a truly successful generation is emerging -- one that follows the world, uses technology well, and strives to improve itself,” he said.

Education investments

Erdogan also highlighted Türkiye’s education investments, saying education has received the largest share of the central government budget for the past 24 years, since the Justice and Development (AK) Party came to power.

He said the share allocated to education more than doubled from 7.6% of the central government budget in 2002 to 15.33% in 2026.

The number of classrooms across Türkiye climbed from 343,000 in 2002 to 626,000 today, he added.

In Ankara alone, 30 new schools with a total investment value of 1.989 billion Turkish liras have opened over the past two years, adding 544 new classrooms, Erdogan said.

He said the investments seek to ensure equal and fair access to education for all children, regardless of their income level, while providing better conditions for teachers to do their work.