Rwanda's first participation in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) has provided a roadmap for education reform, highlighting areas where the country can strengthen teaching, improve examinations and ensure students acquire the skills needed beyond the classroom.

Andreas Schleicher, Director for Education and Skills at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the architect of PISA, said the findings should serve as a starting point for improving learning outcomes rather than a verdict on Rwanda&039;s education system.

In an interview with The New Times, Schleicher stressed that the value of PISA lies not in international rankings but in how countries use the results to identify weaknesses, learn from other education systems and introduce reforms.

For Rwanda, he said, a key priority is closing the gap between the objectives of its competence-based curriculum, what teachers deliver in classrooms and what students ultimately learn.

Rwanda participated in PISA for the first time in 2025, with more than 6,000 students taking part. The assessment measures the ability of 15-year-olds to apply knowledge in mathematics, reading and science to real-life situations.

The results showed that approximately 13 per cent of participating Rwandan students attained at least Level 2 proficiency in science, compared with eight per cent in mathematics and four per cent in reading.

ALSO READ: What PISA results say about Rwanda’s education system

Schleicher cautioned against interpreting the reading figure as meaning that only four per cent of Rwandan students can read.

"Many students in Rwanda have learned to technically read," he said. "They can read a text, they can understand the meaning, but they are struggling using reading for learning."

He explained that the assessment examines whether students can interpret, evaluate and use information to acquire new knowledge rather than merely understand the words in a text.

This distinction, he said, is increasingly important in a world where young people must navigate vast amounts of information, including content generated by artificial intelligence.

Closing the gap between curriculum and classroom

Schleicher said Rwanda's competence-based curriculum, introduced about a decade ago, provides a foundation for developing critical thinking, problem-solving and practical skills.

However, the PISA findings point to a gap between these aspirations and what students are actually learning.

He identified three dimensions of education: the intended curriculum, which governments design; the implemented curriculum, which teachers deliver; and the achieved curriculum, which students ultimately learn.

"Often there are very big gaps between the intention and what actually happens," he said.

Schleicher observed that many teachers in Rwanda are not sufficiently familiar with the principles underpinning the curriculum, making it difficult to translate competence-based learning into everyday classroom practice.

He called for clearer guidance, practical teaching frameworks and stronger support to help teachers implement the curriculum effectively.

ALSO READ: How have African countries fared in their PISA participation?

However, he said reforms must also address how students are examined.

Where classroom teaching encourages problem-solving, projects and practical learning but final examinations primarily reward memorisation, teachers and students will naturally concentrate on preparing for those examinations.

"You need to change the exam culture," Schleicher said. "You need to make sure that what we see at the end of the day in the results of students reflects the intention of the learning environment."

He advocated greater integration of assessment into everyday learning, allowing students to receive regular feedback on their strengths and weaknesses rather than relying primarily on high-stakes final examinations.

Moving beyond memorisation

Schleicher said education reforms should prioritise students&039; ability to apply knowledge to unfamiliar situations rather than simply reproduce information they have memorised.

Unlike conventional examinations that often reward students for recalling information, PISA assesses whether learners can use their knowledge to solve problems.

In science, for example, students may be asked to formulate a hypothesis and design an experiment rather than simply recall the findings of one they have studied.

Similarly, reading assessments require students to compare information, evaluate arguments and develop independent interpretations.

"In PISA, we do not look so much at whether students can remember what they learned," he said. "We look much more at whether they can use and apply it."

He argued that education systems must increasingly prioritise creativity, critical thinking and independent judgment as artificial intelligence becomes capable of performing tasks traditionally associated with memorisation and information processing.

"We don't want to educate second class computers. We want to educate first class humans," he said.

Schleicher also urged schools to foster curiosity and encourage students to question what they are taught rather than simply reproduce predetermined answers.

Teachers, he added, should increasingly act as coaches, mentors and facilitators who help students develop confidence in their ability to learn and improve.

Parents have a role to play

Schleicher also highlighted parental involvement as an important area for improvement, saying that supporting children's education does not necessarily require parents to spend hours assisting with homework.

Instead, he encouraged parents to show genuine interest in what their children learn, ask questions about their school experiences and demonstrate that education matters.

Rwanda's PISA results, he said, showed relatively strong teacher support, with students reporting that their teachers took an interest in them.

However, reported parental interest was lower than he had expected, including among wealthier families.

"Many parents ... have delegated the job of education to the school, have outsourced that responsibility," he said.

He urged parents to become more actively involved in their children's learning, noting that parental interest can positively influence academic performance.

Investing in better learning outcomes

Schleicher acknowledged that Rwanda needs greater investment in education, noting that the country is among the lower-spending education systems participating in PISA.

However, he cautioned that increased spending alone does not guarantee better learning outcomes.

He argued that how resources are allocated is equally important, pointing to investment in teaching quality as an intervention that can deliver greater long-term benefits than simply reducing class sizes.

He cited Cambodia and Vietnam as examples of countries whose education systems have made significant progress, suggesting that Rwanda can draw lessons from successful reforms elsewhere.

Rather than focusing exclusively on international rankings, Schleicher encouraged policymakers to use PISA to identify practices that have improved learning outcomes in other countries and adapt relevant lessons to Rwanda's circumstances.

Rwanda's next PISA participation, scheduled for 2029, will provide an opportunity to assess whether reforms introduced following its first assessment have translated into improved learning outcomes.

Ultimately, Schleicher said, the objective should extend beyond improving test scores to preparing young people for a world in which creativity, empathy, ethical judgment and collaborative problem-solving are increasingly important.

"My worry is not that artificial intelligence will become human," he said. "I worry that our education systems are making people more like computers."