Rwanda’s first participation in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) has added another African education system to an international exercise that measures what 15-year-olds know and how well they can apply that knowledge to real-life situations. Eight African countries have now participated in PISA or the OECD’s PISA for Development initiative: Algeria, Tunisia, Mauritius, Morocco, Senegal, Zambia, Kenya and Rwanda. Their experiences are different. Some have participated repeatedly, while others have used PISA to establish a first baseline. In PISA 2025, five African countries took part, including Mauritius, Morocco, Zambia, Kenya and Rwanda. Kenya, Rwanda and Zambia were first-time participants in the main PISA assessment, although Zambia had previously taken part in PISA for Development. ALSO READ: What PISA results say about Rwanda’s education system Mauritius remains Africa's strongest performer Mauritius scored 438 points in science, 405 in reading and 407 in mathematics in 2025. Morocco followed with 358 in science, 321 in reading and 355 in mathematics. Zambia scored 337, 325 and 314, while Kenya recorded 335, 320 and 326. Rwanda scored 317 in science, 301 in reading and 312 in mathematics. The gap is wide. Mauritius was 121 points ahead of Rwanda in science and 104 points ahead in reading. ALSO READ: Experts weigh in on Rwanda’s first PISA results Zambia shows why progress can be hidden Zambia offered the clearest example of why the latest score should not be viewed alone. It participated in PISA for Development in 2017 before joining the main PISA assessment in 2025. Its mathematics score rose from 258 points in 2017 to 314 in 2025, a 56-point increase. Reading rose from 275 to 325, while science increased from 309 to 337. The proportion of students below Level 2 also fell by 13 percentage points in mathematics, 13 points in reading and 19 points in science. Yet the gap between the highest- and lowest-performing students widened in all three subjects. The improvement is important because Zambia’s 2025 science score of 337 remains low internationally. Looking only at the latest score would therefore miss the progress made since 2017. ALSO READ: PISA: Key measures Rwanda proposes to improve student performance Senegal faced a different challenge Only around 30 percent of 15-year-olds in Senegal and Zambia were enrolled in at least Grade 7 and therefore eligible for the school-based PISA-D assessment. The average across OECD countries was 89 per cent. PISA-D was designed partly to make international assessment more accessible to developing countries and to help them build capacity to collect and use education data. This means that for some African systems, improving learning also requires keeping more children in school and ensuring they progress far enough to acquire the skills being measured. ALSO READ: Results of first PISA assessment for Rwandan learners due Tuesday Morocco and Tunisia show that progress is not automatic Morocco's 2025 mathematics score fell from 365 in 2022 to 355, while reading dropped from 339 to 321. Science moved from 365 to 358. The decline comes alongside a major expansion of secondary education, bringing more students from previously marginalised groups into the system. That expansion can lower average scores even as access improves. Tunisia participated five times between 2003 and 2015. Between 2003 and 2009, it recorded significant gains in mathematics and science and reduced the proportion of students below Level 2 in mathematics. But weaknesses in literacy, numeracy and science remained. The global picture is also worrying Africa's results come as education systems around the world face declining performance. PISA 2025 involved more than 760,000 students in 91 countries and economies. The OECD average was 482 points in science, 463 in mathematics and 461 in reading. The strongest performers were B-S-J-Z in China and Singapore. China scored 597 in science and 612 in mathematics, while Singapore led reading with 535 points. But performance has fallen in many parts of the world. Between 2015 and 2025, OECD-average mathematics performance fell by 22 points, while reading fell by 28 points. Among non-OECD participants, mathematics fell by eight points and reading by 16 points. Between 2022 and 2025, science remained broadly stable across 35 OECD countries, while mathematics fell by nine points and reading by about 14 points.
