On September 8, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) released the results of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA 2025). Ninety-one countries and economies participated in the survey, which was conducted among approximately 760,000 15-year-old students. From Japan, 183 schools and approximately 6,500 students participated.

This time, three types of surveys were conducted: assessment of students performance achievement, student questionnaire, and survey on ICT use. In the performance achievement assessment, in addition to the three previously assessed domains of scientific competency, reading literacy, and mathematical literacy, the cross-curricular domain of “Learning in the Digital World” was also assessed.

In the summary of results, Japan’s performance was described as ranking highly in all three domains as well as in “Learning in the Digital World,” and was evaluated as maintaining  internationally high level in all three domains and consistently demonstrating a high degree of socioeconomic fairness. At the same time, the rising proportion of low-performing students was identified as a challenge.

Based on the survey results, the OECD analyzed that without motivation to learn, students cannot learn independently, nor can they improve their achievement, and suggested the importance of viewing children’s learning from multiple perspectives, including engagement in learning such as curiosity and perseverance, support from schools, and safe and equitable learning environments. Education International (EI) also stated that the survey results should be used as “an opportunity for social dialogue on the impact of social background on education, and should lead to ensuring quality learning for all children.”

In past releases of results, attention has focused on rankings and changes in rankings, and both children and educators have been pushed to concentrate on improving academic achievement as measured by scores. The survey results should be used not to be swayed by rankings or scores, but to examine whether systems and structures are functioning effectively.

Children are exhausted by excessive learning content under the current National Curriculum Guidelines, which have caused curriculum overload. Meanwhile, educators continue to do everything they can to ensure children’s learning, even amid extremely busy working conditions in which workstyle reforms have not yet brought tangible improvement. Now that the National Curriculum Guideline is in the process of revising, we must work toward realizing quality learning in a more relaxed learning environment, based on the OECD’s analysis.

The Japan Teachers’ Union will continue to promote school workstyle reform in order to secure time for educators to engage more with children, while also advancing educational research activities to ensure quality education for children.