Rabat – Morocco’s latest results in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) have pointed to persistent weaknesses in students’ mastery of basic skills, as the government defends its ongoing education reform as a necessary response to those challenges.
The Ministry of National Education, Preschool and Sports said the 2025 results reinforce the need to prioritize foundational learning from the earliest years of primary school.
The ministry also stressed that the results do not measure the impact of Morocco’s current education model. The students assessed in the 2025 cycle followed the previous curriculum and did not benefit from the “Pioneer Schools” model introduced as part of the government’s 2022-2026 education reform roadmap.
Morocco’s performance declined across all three core PISA areas compared with 2022. The national mathematics score fell from 365 to 355 points, while reading dropped from 339 to 321. Science scores also decreased, from 365 to 358 points.
Despite the overall decline, science remained Morocco’s strongest area in the 2025 assessment, which placed particular emphasis on the subject.
Moroccan students scored 369 points in the assessment of scientific inquiry processes and 357 points in both the evaluation of scientific information and environmental science. They also recorded 374 points in modeling and 369 points in programming.
Learning gaps remain a major challenge
The decline in Morocco’s results comes amid a broader deterioration across OECD education systems. The average OECD score fell by nine points in mathematics, from 472 to 463, while reading scores dropped by 15 points, from 476 to 461. Science declined by three points, from 485 to 482.
Still, the gap between Moroccan students and international averages remains substantial, highlighting the long-standing difficulties within the national education system.
For the ministry, the figures point to a problem that starts well before students reach the age of 15. Learning difficulties can emerge during the first years of primary education, then persist and deepen as students move from one grade to another.
This diagnosis is an integral part of the government’s current reform strategy. Rather than wait until students reach secondary school to address academic weaknesses, the Pioneer Schools model seeks to identify gaps earlier and provide support before they become more difficult to correct.
The ministry therefore considers expanding the model across primary and lower secondary education a key priority. It also called for stronger academic support and remediation, updated teaching content, specialized practical training for educators, and wider access to modern teaching and digital resources.
Better pedagogical supervision and a stronger learning environment will also be necessary, the ministry said.
But it acknowledged that it is too early to determine whether the Pioneer Schools model will significantly improve Morocco’s position in future PISA assessments.
A meaningful measure of its impact will only become possible once students who have spent a substantial part of their education within the new model reach the age of 15 and take part in PISA.
The OECD’s PISA assessment measures the knowledge and skills of 15-year-old students across participating countries, with mathematics, reading, and science as its three main areas. The 2025 cycle also examined students’ ability to learn in a digital environment.
