Slide in PISA Ranking Jeopardizes Germany’s Economic Prosperity
“The decline in German students’ performance in the PISA study is a cause for great concern. Good education is the most important basis for our prosperity,” says Ludger Wößmann, Director of the ifo Center for the Economics of Education. “In math and reading, the performance of 15-year-olds is a whole school year behind where it was just four years ago. This decline in educational results is unprecedented. Performance has even fallen below the level that triggered the first PISA shock about 20 years ago. In this most recent study, German students’ performance in mathematics dropped by 25 PISA points, which will cost Germany around EUR 14 trillion in economic output by the end of the century.”
Wößmann adds: “As a society, we need to place greater emphasis on academic results and ensure that all children and young people are taught the necessary basic skills.” Improving scholastic results must be a priority in policy, education administration, schools, and families. Economic research proves that the basic skills measured in PISA serve as the foundation for students’ future income opportunities and for the development of the economy as a whole.
