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🇲🇽 Mexico /Culture & Society

PISA Test Has Biases, Sheinbaum Says as She Defends Mexico’s New School Model

From El Universal · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Official statement Context piece
  • Claudia Sheinbaum said standardized international tests have limitations because they apply the same assessment across countries with different conditions.
  • She highlighted an increase in Mexico’s science scores and attributed it to the Nueva Escuela Mexicana education model.
  • She acknowledged declines in mathematics and literacy, but said literacy scores fell across OECD countries and Mexico’s decrease was smaller than in many others.

Claudia Sheinbaum has renewed her criticism of international education comparisons, arguing that the same test cannot fully reflect the different realities of each country.

We have always said that the same test for all countries always has its limitations because of the characteristics of each country. That is the first thing.

· Claudia SheinbaumSheinbaum explained why she believes the PISA assessment cannot fully account for national differences.

Speaking at her morning press conference, Mexico’s president addressed the results of the 2025 PISA assessment by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. She said such instruments contain biases because they do not account sufficiently for national context.

Sheinbaum nonetheless pointed to what she described as progress in science. Mexico’s students increased their score in the subject, she said, attributing the improvement to the Nueva Escuela Mexicana, the education model promoted by her administration.

In Mexico’s case, for example, in science the students’ score increased. There is recognition of the increase in knowledge of science, thanks to the Nueva Escuela Mexicana.

· Claudia SheinbaumSheinbaum attributed Mexico’s improved science performance to the country’s current education model.

On reading and writing, Sheinbaum said scores had fallen across all OECD countries. She linked the broader decline to the impact of digital platforms on young people and argued that Mexico’s decrease was smaller than those recorded in many other countries. She also acknowledged a decline in mathematics, while saying that the trend was shared by other nations and required continuing analysis.

In the case of reading and writing, it fell in all OECD countries.

· Claudia SheinbaumSheinbaum discussed the decline in literacy scores and linked it to a broader international trend.

The president said the OECD itself had recognized the role of Mexican teachers and students. She highlighted what she described as the students’ willingness to question, the contribution of teachers and the resilience of Mexico’s education system.

There is very important recognition for Mexico: recognition of the role teachers play compared with other countries, recognition of the students and their desire to question, which is very special about the Nueva Escuela Mexicana, and recognition of the resilience of education in Mexico.

· Claudia SheinbaumSheinbaum said the OECD had recognized Mexican teachers, students and the education system.
About this summary

Originally published by El Universal in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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