"We need stronger political measures to strengthen learning in science and mathematics"
The results from this year's PISA survey show that there is still a sharp decline for Norwegian pupils in reading and mathematics.
"This is an announced crisis for the supply of skills in working life. We are not able to educate the engineers and technologists we need with these figures," says Safina de Klerk, Vice President of NITO.
Warning of a science crisis
Norway is the country that has fallen the second most in the PISA survey in ten years. From 2015 to 2025, the proportion of Norwegian students who perform below level 2 has increased from 17 to 38 per cent in mathematics and from 19 to 29 per cent in science.
"38 per cent of pupils in mathematics and 29 per cent in science are low-achievers. They will struggle to pursue further education. These figures indicate that there will be even fewer people choosing science subjects in upper secondary school," says de Klerk.
Level 2 is defined as a lower limit for what pupils should know in order to be adequately prepared for further education and working life.
"We now need strong political measures to strengthen learning in science and mathematics, including by increasing the number of lessons in science in lower secondary school," says NITO's vice president.
This is NITO's opinion about the science boost in schools:
- The number of hours in science in lower secondary school must be increased to at least the international average.
- Science in lower secondary school is divided into disciplines such as biology, physics and chemistry.
- Science subjects will give greater credit on the grade card from both primary and secondary education.
- Technology and programming will be established as a common core subject in primary and secondary education.
- The recruitment of science teachers with in-depth competence will be strengthened.
Facts about PISA
- The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) measures 15-year-olds' competence in reading, mathematics and science.
- PISA is carried out under the auspices of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
- The survey will be conducted every three years until 2025. Due to the coronavirus pandemic , the OECD decided to postpone the 2021 implementation until 2022.
- Norway has participated in all PISA studies, i.e . in 2000, 2003, 2006, 2009, 2012, 2015, 2018 and 2022.
- The number of participating countries has increased with each implementation. In 2025 , around 90 countries participated .
- The Department of Teacher Education and School Research (ILS) at the University of Oslo conducts PISA in Norway on behalf of the Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training (Udir).
Source: UDIR
