Nearly half of Icelandic students miss PISA reading benchmark

About 44 percent of Icelandic 10th-grade students failed to reach the basic reading comprehension benchmark in the latest PISA assessment, mbl.is reports. The results were released today.

PISA is conducted every three years and assesses students’ reading comprehension, science and mathematics skills. Icelandic students’ reading performance has declined between assessments since 2009, and no other country has recorded as steep a fall over the past decade as Iceland.

Icelandic students also performed well below the OECD average. While 69 percent of students across OECD countries reached the basic benchmark, the figure for Iceland was 56 percent.

Experts warn against downplaying the results

Sigríður Ólafsdóttir, a literacy specialist and associate professor at the University of Iceland’s School of Education, said authorities tended to present PISA results in a more favourable light by highlighting factors such as children’s wellbeing.

“We must surely be able to agree that teaching children to read letters matters. That was originally the school’s role: to teach children to read,” Sigríður said. “I do not think we can set that aside, because everything depends on it. It is the foundation.”

Sigríður discussed the results on mbl.is’s Dagmál programme with Haukur Arason, who is also an associate professor at the university’s School of Education. They examined the findings and ways to counter the negative trend.

Sigríður said reading comprehension involved much more than learning to read. PISA tests required students to understand complex material, engage in debate and make informed decisions, she said.

She referred to the referendum at the end of August, when Icelanders had to decide whether to continue talks on membership of the European Union.

“We really had to practise deep reading comprehension and debate with people who disagreed with us. It was no small challenge, and that is what PISA measures. This is essential for a democratic society,” she said.

Sigríður also recalled the debate that followed the 2022 PISA results, when Iceland recorded its largest-ever drop between assessments.

“We could not even agree that this was serious. We had to emphasise that the children were doing well. It is like a doctor treating a patient with a weak heart that is about to stop, while pointing out that the patient has healthy lungs,” she said.

Schools must consider children as a whole, Sigríður said, but added that education itself should remain the focus.

“Everything depends on Icelandic, across all subjects and at every level of education, because we use Icelandic,” she said.