PISA and reading comprehension

The results of the Programme for International Student Assessment, commonly known as PISA, will be released next Tuesday, September 8, marking the culmination of the 2025 study involving 91 countries worldwide. Mexico, despite initial resistance from its educational authorities, participated under pressure from civil society. Secretary of Education Mario Delgado expressed skepticism toward international standardized assessments in October 2025, stating that comparing the country internationally with such tests was “of no use.” Nevertheless, global consensus holds that PISA represents the largest and most influential effort in international education evaluation. PISA’s significance lies in its ability to provide standardized evaluations that inform evidence-based policy-making. Without such assessments, improving educational systems becomes akin to navigating without a compass. Esteemed educator Eduardo Andere emphasized that for Mexico, participation in PISA is critical, as it is the sole tool available to evaluate the nation's education system and policies. Both President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and Claudia Sheinbaum have canceled other comparative evaluations both nationally and internationally. Mexico once had an autonomous body for educational evaluation, the National Institute for Educational Evaluation (INEE). However, this institution was abolished in May 2019 through a controversial constitutional reform that repealed the Law of the National Institute for Educational Evaluation. This move has left the country without an independent mechanism to assess educational performance, further complicating efforts to improve quality and equity. Educator Jorge Javier Romero criticized the rejection of evaluations, noting that in a world that demands knowledge, the New Mexican School risks becoming a trap that perpetuates inequality. The reluctance of Mexican authorities to engage with international assessments, which they view as discriminatory, reflects broader tensions around measurement and accountability in education. The release of PISA 2025 results is anticipated to bring education back into the center of public discourse. A recent document by researchers Sylvia Schmelkes and Carlos Mancera highlights the importance of ongoing dialogue about the kind of education a democratic society desires. They argue that certain moments, such as the publication of PISA results, carry special weight, urging a focused and unbiased approach to interpreting findings. Their work underscores the necessity of foundational learning, particularly reading comprehension, as a prerequisite for all other academic disciplines. Reading comprehension is especially vital because it serves as the gateway to all other forms of learning, including science and mathematics. Often, students fail math not due to a lack of algebraic skills, but because they do not understand the problem presented. This insight aligns with data from the World Bank indicating that 48% of children in the final years of primary education in Mexico struggle to comprehend what they read. Similarly, the 2022 PISA test revealed that 47% of 15-year-old Mexican students did not meet the minimum level of reading proficiency. In response to these challenges, the campaign “Mexicanos Primero por la Comprensión Lectora en México” has been launched, advocating the slogan “Without reading comprehension, there is no learning.” The initiative will be officially introduced on Tuesday, September 1. Dr. Maryanne Wolf, renowned expert in literacy, has contributed insights to this movement, emphasizing the transformative potential of improved reading skills.