Armenia’s twin education crises: Learning deficits, historical amnesia

For decades, Armenians have taken considerable pride in a national tradition of education that has treated schooling as a route to advancement. Armenia’s first participation in the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), however, forces a difficult distinction between being in school and actually acquiring the ability to apply what is taught.

PISA does not primarily ask whether a 15-year-old can reproduce a textbook definition or solve the exact type of problem practiced in class. It asks whether students can use reading, mathematical and scientific knowledge to reason through unfamiliar real-world problems. Armenia’s first PISA assessment included 6,804 students in 293 schools, representing approximately 23,800 15-year-olds, or roughly 80% of the country’s 15-year-old population. The OECD determined that Armenia’s data met its technical quality standards and were fit for reporting.