This is the generation that learned to walk as smartphones took off. They were born during a global financial crisis and saw their schools closed during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The results of last year's OECD PISA test aren't pretty. Students had the lowest average ever recorded for reading and maths. Reading scores fell sharply in the last three years after peaking in 2012.

One in five students are low performers, meaning they lack the skills needed to get more education, participate meaningfully in society, and get high-quality and well-paid work.

No European country saw its score improve, apart from science performance in the United Kingdom, Slovakia, and Türkiye.

Students tended to struggle to read longer texts that need careful attention, focus, and the ability to juggle various pieces of information, the OECD said. It noted that students are more likely to read in haste, giving quick but incorrect answers.

“Reading matters most of all because it is the gateway to every other subject,” OECD secretary general Mathias Cormann told reporters. “More screen time and less reading for pleasure have gone hand in hand with weaker results.”

Ban social media, right?

More students are browsing social networks for over one hour a day than they were in 2022. The report is reluctant to blame social media for the problem, but it does say skimming feeds and rapidly processing information may mean teenagers are less able or willing to tackle complex texts or data.

Can we blame them? The babies of 2009 grew up with a smartphone boom that's changed reading habits. The report said this means “favouring shorter, fragmented digital engagement over sustained reading.”

The results will likely fuel plans to ban social media for younger children across the EU.

Putting the genie back in the bottle and getting kids to read longer material is going to be much harder.

Many of the students tested in 2018 already said they read only if they had to. When they read, they often read online, searching for information, chatting, or scanning the news.

They're not alone. Nearly half of the EU population aged 16 or older hadn't read a book in the past year, according to Eurostat in 2022. Yet people aged 16 to 29 actually read more than their elders.

Cormann doesn't write off digital tools in the classroom, saying they can help students learn, but “beyond five hours a day, results start to fall.”

We need educating

Students who perform worse at reading also show less curiosity and perseverance, the OECD report said.

That critical thinking ability matters beyond the classroom, especially when we have to handle a flood of complicated and potentially inaccurate information every day, from terms and conditions for a mortgage to a manifesto for a political party.

Around two in five students say common sense should trump evidence, which may make it hard for them to evaluate evidence and identify and counter fake news. This is also the case in countries where students perform well in the tests, such as in Czechia, Lithuania, Poland, Estonia, Switzerland, Finland, and Austria, according to OECD education expert Andreas Schleicher.

In the age of AI, the ability to read critically, assess what's credible, and make informed judgements matters more than ever.

The report also rings an alarm bell about a widening gap in results within countries. Wealthy students in good schools do well; others fail to improve. Schleicher singles out Germany, where the social gap has widened over the last decade and students from disadvantaged backgrounds systematically end up in worse-performing schools.

Fixing education

The OECD points to Türkiye, Montenegro, and Slovakia as examples of how to turn things around on science. All three have managed to help low-performing learners improve and increased the number of students scoring top results.

“Teach fewer things in greater depth,” Cormann said. “It is better to teach a smaller set of core topics until students truly master them.”

Teachers also need more support and time to mentor weaker students. But parents can also play a part.

“Something as simple as a parent asking, ‘What did you do at school today?’ goes with better science results and a more positive attitude to learning,” Cormann said.

Schools also need help, especially those that risk falling behind. The report points to teacher shortages as a growing issue.

Education has gotten a smaller share of total public expenditure in the EU since the pandemic, at 9.7% in 2024, according to a recent report by the European Commission. Most of that goes to teachers' salaries, though they're still paid less than similarly qualified workers.

Yet spending more doesn't guarantee better test results, the OECD warns. Luxembourg spends seven times more per student on science education than Türkiye, without getting better results, Schleicher told the briefing.

The real magic may be in creating a good learning environment. Schleicher pointed to strong science results from East Asia, particularly China, where teachers may only teach classes for 12 hours a week but work many more as a coach, a mentor, or a social worker.

“One of the most important technologies for learning is remarkably old-fashioned,” said Schleicher. “An interested teacher, a supportive family, a young person who knows that someone cares about what they are learning and who they are becoming.”