In this video I get frustrated about education: grades, diplomas, connections, and the habit of treating a certificate as if it automatically proved ability. I also turn the question towards parents. We cannot care only about the number on the report card and ignore the learning behind it.

Those are the concerns I bring to the conversation. To examine them properly, we need current results and a clear distinction between what the results measure and what I think contributes to them.

What the latest PISA results actually show

PISA assesses how students around age 15 apply knowledge. The 2025 results were released on 8 September 2026. This article uses that cycle, not the older 2022 results as if they were the latest.[1]

The share reaching at least Level 2, the baseline proficiency threshold, was 15% in mathematics, 16% in reading and 21% in science in Kosovo. The corresponding OECD averages were 65%, 69% and 74%.[1]

Students at Level 2 or above. Maths · Kosovo: 15%; Maths · OECD: 65%; Reading · Kosovo: 16%; Reading · OECD: 69%; Science · Kosovo: 21%; Science · OECD: 74%
PISA 2025 · OECD country note · rounded estimates.

Subtracting the Kosovo share from the OECD share gives gaps of 50 percentage points in mathematics and 53 points in both reading and science. These are differences between percentages, not percentage changes.

The complements are equally sobering: 100 − 15 = 85% below Level 2 in mathematics, 84% in reading and 79% in science. These are subject-specific estimates for the assessed student population. They are not a claim that those shares of all Kosovo residents cannot read, think or learn.

Check the movement as well as the level

The ministry reports the following average scores:[2]

Subject20222025Change in score points
Mathematics355350−5
Reading342340−2
Science3573570
Kosovo: 2022 and 2025 scores. Maths 2022: 355 points; Maths 2025: 350 points; Reading 2022: 342 points; Reading 2025: 340 points; Science 2022: 357 points; Science 2025: 357 points
Ministry figures. Bar lengths are scores, not an IQ or percentage scale.

A two-point numerical difference should not automatically become a dramatic headline. The OECD describes reading and science performance as approximately unchanged from 2022, while mathematics declined.[1] Sampling uncertainty matters. Nor does 350 versus 355 mean that students became a particular percentage “less intelligent.” These are assessment scores, not an IQ test or a ratio scale of human worth.

PISA cannot prove my entire argument

In the video I criticise nepotism and the idea that a grade can be obtained through relationships instead of learning. Those are serious concerns. A low national score does not itself establish who cheated, identify a corrupt teacher or prove a single cause. I am not using PISA to make an allegation against a named person.

UNESCO’s education work treats integrity as a system question, including transparent management, accountability and ways to detect corruption.[3] For me, that points to useful demands: clear criteria for hiring, grading that can be explained, and complaints that can be examined without punishing the person who raises them.

Parents cannot repair all of that at the kitchen table. Institutions still carry their responsibility. But parents do not have to wait for every institutional reform before asking better questions about their own child’s understanding.

Different responsibilities, shared purpose. Institutions: Fair rules, resources and accountable decisions.. Schools: Teach, assess and explain the learning gaps.. Families: Listen to reasoning and work with the school.. Students: Ask questions, practise and show their thinking.
Editorial framework; families do not replace public institutions.

A better question than “What grade did you get?”

Ask: “Can you show me how you worked it out?” Then listen long enough to see where the reasoning breaks. A wrong answer can reveal more than a memorised correct one.

Here is a simple, invented shopping exercise: two notebooks at €1.20 each and three pencils at €0.40 each cost 2 × 1.20 + 3 × 0.40 = €3.60. Paying €5 leaves €1.40. These are illustrative prices, not a market survey or an official PISA item.

The useful follow-up is to change one input. What if we buy one fewer pencil? The total becomes €3.20 and the change becomes €1.80. Can the child explain why the change increased? Choose a problem that fits the child’s current understanding; the point is reasoning, not pushing them through material before they are ready.

With reading, ask for the main idea and the sentence that supports it. With a claim online, ask what evidence would help decide whether it is true. These are suggestions for conversation, not a tested intervention promising a particular score increase.

I explore the same balance in responsibility with support. Leaving a child alone with a difficult task is different from helping them develop the ability to do it.

I want the diploma to stand for something the person can actually do.

Sources and calculation notes