Cyprus: 61% of 15-year-olds read below the basic level, up from 33% in 2012
The share rose in every test and is now the highest in the EU; Bulgaria is second at 53%. In 17 of 25 EU countries such students are significantly more common than in 2012, in none less.
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The basic level of the international test means finding the main idea and the needed facts in an ordinary text; the OECD treats it as the minimum for study and life. In Cyprus more than half of 15-year-olds are now below it. This is not "cannot read", but cannot cope with an ordinary text.
Lines: share of 15-year-olds below level 2 in reading, % (tests of 2012, 2015, 2018, 2022).
- Cyprus: below basic reading level, age 15 %
2012: 32.8; 2015: 35.6; 2018: 43.7; 2022: 60.6
- Bulgaria: below basic reading level, age 15 %
2012: 39.4; 2015: 41.5; 2018: 47.1; 2022: 52.9
- Greece: below basic reading level, age 15 %
2012: 22.6; 2015: 27.3; 2018: 30.5; 2022: 37.6
- Ireland: below basic reading level, age 15 %
2012: 9.6; 2015: 10.2; 2018: 11.8; 2022: 11.4
OECD PISA 2022, volume I: shares below level 2 and their change from 2012 with significance (linking error included). EU countries with both years: 25; the 2022 ranking covers 26 EU countries.
2012 was on paper, from 2015 on computers; the OECD links the scales. Cyprus's decline began before the pandemic (2015, 2018). The data name no cause; possible explanations — motivation on a no-stakes test, a changing student body — are not tested.
A question for this picture
And older youth? In Cyprus more use generative AI than have basic digital skills.