Smartphones dumbing down teens: OECD finds 'unprecedented' decline in math, reading skills of kids globally

In its most recent assessment of global learning standards, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) stated on Tuesday that the COVID school closures are only partially to blame for the unprecedented decline in the reading and math proficiency of teenagers in dozens of countries.

The OECD, based in Paris, reported that since it started testing the reading, math, and science proficiency of 15-year-olds every three years in 2000, it has witnessed some of the sharpest declines in performance.

The two-hour test was taken by nearly 700,000 youths in the 38 OECD members that are mostly developed countries and 44 non-members last year for the most recent study, which is being closely watched by policymakers as the largest international comparison of educational performance.

Compared to when the tests were last conducted in 2018, reading performance fell by 10 points on average in OECD countries, and by 15 points in mathematics, a loss equivalent to three-quarters of a year’s worth of learning.

While more than half of the 81 countries surveyed saw declines, Germany, Iceland, the Netherlands, Norway and Poland saw particularly sharp drops in mathematics scores, the OECD said.

On average across the OECD, one out of four 15-year-olds tested as a low performer in maths, reading and science, which means they could not use basic algorithms or interpret simple texts, the study found.

“COVID probably played some role but I would not overrate it,” OECD director of education Andreas Schleicher told a news conference.

“There are underlying structural factors and they are much more likely to be permanent features of our education systems that policymakers should really take seriously.”

Countries that provided extra teacher support during COVID school closures scored better and results were generally better in places where easy teacher access for special help was high.

Poorer results tended to be associated with higher rates of mobile phone use for leisure and where schools reported teacher shortages.

The OECD said the decline was not inevitable, pointing to Singapore, where students scored the highest in maths, reading and science, with results that suggested they were on average three to five years ahead of their OECD peers.

After Singapore, Macau, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea also outperformed in maths and science, where Estonia and Canada also scored well.

In reading, Ireland, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan earned top marks, and was all the more notable in Ireland and Japan because their spending per student was no higher than the OECD average.

(with inputs from Reuters)