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Children Around the World Are Learning Less: The Learning Crisis Revealed by OECD and UNESCO

"Are our children actually learning well?" The answer from the world's most authoritative education bodies is more uncomfortable than most people expect. Taken together, the reports published by the OECD and UNESCO in 2025 reveal that global education is passing through a quiet crisis. It can't be blamed entirely on COVID-19, and it isn't confined to any one country.

Table of Contents

  1. Learning Decline by the Numbers
  2. A Decline That Began Before the Pandemic
  3. Mental Health: The Other Crisis in the Classroom
  4. Inequality Is Amplifying the Crisis
  5. How Countries in Europe and Asia Are Responding

1. Learning Decline by the Numbers

The OECD's PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) measures the mathematical, reading, and scientific abilities of 15-year-olds worldwide every three years. The 2022 PISA results were striking.

  • Global average math scores dropped 12 points compared to 2018
  • This is equivalent to roughly 7 months of lost learning
  • Compared to 2012, math achievement has declined by more than 3 percentage points

More concerning is the damage in countries with prolonged school closures. In nations that experienced extended closures, the average score decline reached up to 24 points. And among the lowest-achieving students in those countries, the drop was a staggering 33 points. The crisis did not arrive equally for everyone.

2. A Decline That Began Before the Pandemic

Here's the crucial point: this decline is not a temporary phenomenon created by COVID-19. The downward trend had already begun as far back as 2012. The pandemic merely made an already-tilting trajectory steeper.

The OECD's "Trends Shaping Education 2025" report makes this explicit. Digitalization, socioeconomic shifts, and changes in pedagogical approaches have interacted in complex ways, gradually weakening the effectiveness of learning itself.

Another figure is worth noting: only 50% of 15-year-olds said they "love learning new things at school." Half of all students aren't finding joy in schoolwork. And that proportion varies substantially by socioeconomic status.

3. Mental Health: The Other Crisis in the Classroom

Running parallel to declining academic achievement, adolescent mental health has deteriorated noticeably across most OECD countries.

The OECD report identifies these contributing factors:

  • Growing social media use and expanded screen time
  • Reduced physical activity
  • Intensifying academic pressure
  • Mounting economic instability

Multiple studies converge on a common finding: the experience of severed peer relationships and disrupted daily rhythms during the pandemic has weakened adolescents' psychological resilience.

The OECD notes that "education systems are on the front lines of this crisis, but neither resources nor teacher training are adequate." Schools are now expected to play the dual role of teaching academic content while serving as an emotional safety net for children β€” a burden they were not designed to carry alone.

4. Inequality Is Amplifying the Crisis

Another striking finding from the 2022 PISA results: inequality is widening. The pandemic is estimated to have expanded learning gaps correlated with socioeconomic status by approximately 7%.

Students from affluent families could find alternatives even when schools closed β€” private tutors, online courses, direct parental instruction. For students from disadvantaged backgrounds, school was the only learning space they had. When school shut down, learning stopped.

UNESCO's 2026 Global Education Monitoring Report analyzed 25 years of education participation data, tracking this inequality across multiple dimensions at the country level. It measured how gaps in access to education and quality of education differ by gender, geographic location, income level, and disability status. Some countries have rapidly narrowed these gaps; others have fallen further behind.

5. How Countries in Europe and Asia Are Responding

How are countries responding to this crisis?

Poland: Comprehensive Curriculum Overhaul

Poland began a complete redesign of its primary and secondary education curriculum in the 2025–2026 school year under the name "Reform26: Compass of Tomorrow." Scheduled for completion by 2031–2032, the reform aims to move away from rote memorization toward education centered on critical thinking, collaboration, and citizenship.

France: €20 Million Investment in AI Teacher-Support Tools

France has committed €20 million to tools that help teachers use AI for lesson preparation during the 2026–2027 school year. Rather than having AI teach students directly, the idea is to use AI to strengthen teacher capacity β€” a notably different framing from most EdTech approaches.

OECD: The Shift Toward Lifelong Learning

The OECD's "Education Policy Outlook 2025" emphasizes that schools must become spaces that cultivate confidence, resilience, and cooperation β€” not just spaces that transmit knowledge. Developing "lifelong learners" is becoming the new north star of education systems.

What all this data is collectively saying is one thing: the current education system is failing to keep pace with a changing world. Scores are falling, children are exhausted, and gaps are widening. What matters is recognizing this β€” and then having a serious public conversation about where to begin fixing it.

The learning crisis is not just the Ministry of Education's problem. It's an opportunity for all of society to ask again: "What kind of education do we actually want to give our children?"

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