Ankara: The ranking of Turkish students in science, mathematics, and reading -- the three core subjects assessed under the 2025 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) -- rose 50%, said the nation's president on Monday. Speaking at a ceremony in the capital Ankara marking the start of the 2026-2027 school year and the opening of newly completed education investments, Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the latest PISA results confirmed the country's progress in education.
According to Anadolu Agency, the PISA 2025 report, which included 91 countries, indicated that Trkiye saw the largest increase in scores among OECD countries in science, mathematics, and reading. Erdogan stated that Trkiye's ranking in all three areas rose 50%, making it the only country to significantly improve its performance in all three subjects. Additionally, Trkiye was the only OECD country to enhance performance among both advantaged and disadvantaged groups of students in terms of equal opportunities.
Erdogan extended his congratulations to teachers, students, and parents who contributed to the results. He also addressed attempts to downplay the assessment results, emphasizing that the achievement should be a source of pride for the Turkish nation. Erdogan highlighted that Trkiye's young people are increasingly achieving success not only in education but also in sports, arts, science, and other fields. He noted the emergence of a successful generation that is engaged with the world, proficient in technology, and dedicated to self-improvement.
Erdogan also underscored Trkiye's education investments, noting that education has received the largest share of the central government budget for the past 24 years, since the Justice and Development (AK) Party came to power. The share allocated to education more than doubled from 7.6% of the central government budget in 2002 to 15.33% in 2026. The number of classrooms across Trkiye increased from 343,000 in 2002 to 626,000 today. In Ankara alone, 30 new schools with a total investment value of 1.989 billion Turkish liras have opened over the past two years, adding 544 new classrooms.
He highlighted that the investments aim to ensure equal and fair access to education for all children, irrespective of their income level, while providing better conditions for teachers to perform their duties.