Tajikistan has recorded some of the lowest results among participants in the 2025 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), with almost no students reaching the highest performance levels in science, reading, and mathematics.
The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) published the report PISA 2025 Results (Volume I): Future-Ready Students on September 8, presenting the findings of the latest international assessment of the knowledge and skills of 15-year-old students. The assessment was conducted in 2025.
Tajikistan participated in PISA for the first time. The country was represented by Dushanbe, which is listed in the OECD’s international tables as “Dushanbe (Tajikistan).”
The assessment covered three core subjects: science, reading, and mathematics.
Tajikistan’s students scored an average of 334 points in science, 368 points in reading, and 382 points in mathematics.
The corresponding OECD averages were 482, 461, and 463 points, respectively.
At the same time, 67.2% of students in Tajikistan failed to reach the baseline Level 2 in all three subjects simultaneously.
Science results
In science, Level 2 begins at 410 points and is considered the baseline level of proficiency. At this level, students can provide a simple scientific explanation of a familiar phenomenon, interpret straightforward data, identify evidence supporting a claim, and assess the reliability of a source using a basic scientific criterion.
Across OECD countries, an average of 74% of students reached Level 2 or above in science.
Tajikistan was among 11 PISA-2025 participants where more than 75% of students failed to reach the baseline levelin science.
Among Central Asian countries, Uzbekistan recorded the highest science score at 438 points, followed by Kazakhstan with 420, Kyrgyzstan with 363, and Tajikistan with 334.
In mathematics, Kazakhstan scored 414 points, Tajikistan 382, and Kyrgyzstan 364. In reading, the scores were 385, 368, and 344 points, respectively.
Uzbekistan’s mathematics and reading results are not included in the international tables.
Results declining worldwide
PISA-2025 also showed a decline in student performance in many countries. According to the OECD, the average scores of OECD member countries in science, reading, and mathematics were the lowest recorded in the history of the assessment.
China and Singapore recorded the highest results across all three subjects. Estonia, Japan, South Korea, Macao, Chinese Taipei, and the United Kingdom were also among the top-performing participants.
