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Around one-third of young Europeans are 'functionally illiterate', education expert says

Euronews Thursday 10 September 2026, 06:41 UTC 1 min read
Key Points

Maciej Jakubowski said the latest OECD PISA report shows "an increasing number of students" who are not reaching "a basic level of proficiency in reading or mathematics". The decline is visible in "most European countries". This means that around "one-third of young Europeans" are below Level 2 in PISA, which, according to the director of the Educational Research Institute, means they are "functionally illiterate".

Maciej Jakubowski said the latest OECD PISA report shows "an increasing number of students" who are not reaching "a basic level of proficiency in reading or mathematics". The decline is visible in "most European countries". This means that around "one-third of young Europeans" are below Level 2 in PISA, which, according to the director of the Educational Research Institute, means they are "functionally illiterate". But Jakubowski is cautious about linking social media to the poor results. "We cannot say causally that there is a relationship, but that's the first guess," the expert said.
Europeans (ORG) Maciej Jakubowski (PERSON) OECD PISA (ORG) European (ORG) PISA (LOCATION) the Educational Research Institute (ORG) Jakubowski (PERSON)
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