Czech schoolchildren are slipping in maths and reading — experts point to a new role model: Estonia instead of Finland

The 2025 PISA international assessment has shown that Czech fifteen-year-olds performed worse in both mathematics and reading compared to 2022. Even so, Czech students' results remain above the average for countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the European Union.

Education Minister Robert Plaga (for ANO) noted that despite chronic underfunding of regional and higher education, Czech schools and teachers continue to achieve above-average results by international standards. He added that a similar decline is currently being observed in most OECD and EU countries.

A long decline since 2000

Czech students' skills have been gradually declining since the first PISA test in 2000, with the long-term drop most pronounced in mathematics. The minister attributes the latest fall in reading scores to changing reading habits — today's children have shorter attention spans and process text differently than before.

The international comparison also revealed that Czech students show below-average curiosity and perseverance. At the same time, the gap between children is widening depending on their family background.

A new role model — Estonia

According to Tomáš Zatloukal, the Czech Republic's chief school inspector, the country needs to rethink its entire educational model. Finland long served as the benchmark, but its results have now noticeably deteriorated across the board.

"Finland was our long-standing model, but in the most recent testing cycles it has lost significant ground in every area. The new benchmark now is Estonia, which consistently delivers the best results among European education systems and ranks among the leaders even compared to Asian countries," Zatloukal said.

He explained that what matters most is what schools do to minimise the negative influence of a child's family environment. "A child doesn't choose the family they're born into, yet it has a major effect on them. We've modelled various measures — no revolutionary steps are needed. It's about changing the approach to teaching in schools: engaging students more and building a climate of trust and stronger relationships," the inspector explained.

Source: seznamzpravy.cz