Leaders | School scandal

Faddish thinking is hobbling education in the rich world

Test scores have been stagnant or worse for more than a decade

illustration of a yellow pencil tied into a complex knot against a red background. The pencil has a blue eraser on top and a green tip at the bottom. — Illustration: Giacomo Bagnara

Jul 11th 2024

That the pandemic messed up schooling is well known. Between 2018 and 2022 an average teenager in a rich country fell some six months behind their expected progress in reading and nine months behind in maths, according to the OECD. What is less widely understood is that the trouble began long before covid-19 struck. A typical pupil in an OECD country was no more literate or numerate when the coronavirus first ran amok than children tested 15 years earlier. As our special report argues, education in the rich world is stagnating. This should worry parents and policymakers alike.

This article appeared in the Leaders section of the print edition under the headline “School scandal”