Education in the Eastern Partnership: Findings from PISA

Executive summary

The Eastern Partnership (EaP) is a joint initiative of the European Union, its member states and five countries in Eastern Europe and the South Caucasus: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine. Launched in 2009, the EaP aims to foster sustainable reforms in these countries and strengthen their ties with the European Union.

Education is crucial for the region’s economic development, social prosperity and integration. This report assesses the educational performance of EaP countries and economies participating in the 2022 OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), specifically Baku (Azerbaijan), Georgia, Moldova and Ukrainian regions. PISA is an international survey carried out every three years that assesses the knowledge and skills of 15-year-old students and provides data on student and school characteristics worldwide. This report leverages the comprehensive PISA dataset to identify strengths and challenges in the EaP education systems in view of generating ideas for policy on how to improve to ensure all students have the opportunity to learn and succeed.

The report centres on three critical aspects of education systems: performance and other student outcomes, equity in educational opportunities and the learning environment both in and outside school. It draws on a broad knowledge base to contextualise findings, including previous OECD reports on EaP education systems developed in collaboration with the European Commission and UNICEF, as well as supplementary research and data from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the World Bank and other sources.

Student learning, well-being and expectations for the future

Results from PISA 2022 show that, while most EaP countries and economies bucked the trend and maintained their performance in mathematics between 2018 and 2022, performance in reading and science declined in all of these except for Georgia. In 2022, students from EaP countries and economies still trailed behind the average OECD student in all subjects. Students in Ukrainian regions perform best, while Baku (Azerbaijan) and Georgia perform lowest across domains. Most EaP students lack basic skills, and few excel at higher proficiency levels.

Beyond academic proficiency, PISA also examines student well-being and aspirations, which are often overlooked in policy discussions. Although over half of EaP students report a positive sense of belonging at school, this sense is weaker than in OECD countries, especially concerning student loneliness and social ties. Interestingly, students in Ukrainian regions report high perceived safety despite the ongoing war, contrasting with lower safety perceptions in Moldova and other EaP countries and economies.

Educational aspirations have risen across the EaP, except in Ukrainian regions, where they remain high but have decreased slightly. This raises questions about aligning these aspirations with opportunities in higher education and the labour market.

Equity in students’ education opportunities

The report examines equity in student performance based on socio-economic background, gender, location and language spoken at home. Although socio-economic gaps in performance are smaller in EaP countries and economies than in OECD countries, this is partly due to the low performance of advantaged students and inequities based on students’ socio-economic background remain very large.

Gender gaps, while present across the region, vary in profile: girls in Baku and Georgia outperform boys in reading and match them in mathematics, while in Moldova and Ukrainian regions, boys excel in mathematics and girls in reading.

There are also gender disparities in educational aspirations, favouring girls (except in Moldova), and by socio-economic background, favouring advantaged students. However, on average, boys report a stronger sense of belonging at school than girls in three of the four EaP countries and economies, as is also the case on average across the OECD. Additionally, socio-economic status is linked to students’ sense of belonging across EaP countries and economies, with students from more advantaged backgrounds typically feeling a stronger connection to their school environment than their disadvantaged peers.

Geographic location is another source of inequality, with urban students outperforming rural peers, particularly in Moldova. Much of this performance difference by geographic location is explained by urban students’ and schools’ higher socio-economic status. In Moldova, this seems to be associated with the small size of rural schools, with students performing worse than their peers in medium‑sized and large schools. Linguistic diversity adds another layer of complexity. In Georgia and Moldova, students who speak a different language at home underperform in mathematics compared to those who speak the same language at home and school. Language background does not significantly affect performance in Baku and Ukrainian regions.

EaP countries and economies face more pronounced educational material shortages than human resources. While there has been some improvement in material resources over time in Georgia and Moldova, conditions have worsened in Ukrainian regions due to the ongoing war. Although there are no significant disparities in staff shortages between advantaged and disadvantaged schools or urban and rural schools in any EaP country or economy, equity issues related to material resources are evident in certain EaP countries and economies. Shortages are more severe in rural areas compared to cities in Georgia and Ukrainian regions and in disadvantaged schools compared to advantaged ones in Georgia.

Pre-primary attendance varies widely across the region, with the highest levels in Moldova and the lowest in Baku, where attendance is increasing but remains low. Pre-primary attendance is positively associated with student performance at age 15 in EaP countries and economies, except in Ukrainian regions. However, this association is largely explained by students’ socio-economic status. Advantaged students are more likely to have attended pre-school in all EaP countries and economies, with particularly large disparities observed in Georgia and Ukrainian regions.

Learning environment in and outside of school

PISA 2022 data show that the learning environment in EaP countries and economies is generally on par with the OECD average in terms of teacher support and disciplinary climate, except in Baku, where the disciplinary climate is poorer. However, truancy and lateness are more common in EaP countries and economies, being negatively associated with performance. While these issues have improved since 2018, further progress is needed. Digital devices in EaP schools are less effective than they could be, highlighting the need to limit distractions. Parental involvement is a strength in EaP countries and economies, though it declined between 2018 and 2022, except in Georgia. Strengthening school-family partnerships is crucial for maintaining and enhancing this involvement.

The report also analyses how learning continued during the COVID-19 pandemic in EaP countries and economies as an important context for understanding student learning and well-being as measured by PISA 2022. Moreover, looking at students’ experiences during the pandemic allows for drawing lessons on strengths and weaknesses that are still relevant today for building more resilient and inclusive education systems in EaP countries and economies. As student reports suggest, fewer students in EaP countries and economies experienced prolonged school closures compared to OECD countries, likely mitigating learning losses. However, students experienced challenges with remote learning, such as self‑motivation and understanding assignments, underscoring the need to prepare students for autonomous learning and to develop more supportive teaching practices.

Building blocks to improve student learning, equity and well-being

The report proposes seven building blocks that could form part of an ambitious policy agenda to improve student learning, equity and well-being in EaP countries and economies. While some of these will help lift the performance of all students, regardless of their current performance levels or background, specific groups of students are likely to benefit from specialised support, such as high-potential students, socio‑economically disadvantaged students, rural students and students from minority language backgrounds. These building blocks are:

• Focus on ensuring that all students master basic skills: Focus on raising public investment, enhancing the teaching profession and creating better learning environments to lift all students, particularly those lacking basic skills. The potential rewards are significant as high-quality education is associated with a wide range of economic and social benefits for individuals and societies.

• Support students in reaching top performance and in their transitions into tertiary education and high-skilled jobs: Implement targeted measures to help high-potential students achieve academic excellence and ensure a smooth transition to tertiary education and the labour market, especially in fields critical for future economic growth, such as the digital and green economies.

• Address socio-economic disparities in education opportunities: Address the needs of disadvantaged students by promoting equity through school funding, investing in early childhood education and fostering positive attitudes toward learning. The high share of disadvantaged students who already perform among the highest performing students in their education system in EaP countries and economies suggests that such policies have a real chance to succeed.

• Tackle gaps in education opportunities between rural and urban students: Develop targeted policies for rural education, integrating these with regional and economic development strategies, leveraging digital technologies and reorganising school networks.

• Support language minority students: Enhance support for students from minority language backgrounds, specifically in Georgia and Moldova, through improved teacher education and dedicated support staff.

• Expand access to secondary school: Increase efforts to ensure that all students, specifically in Baku and Georgia, complete their secondary education, possibly through extending compulsory schooling, strengthening vocational education and implementing conditional cash transfers.

• Foster student well-being at school: Monitor student well-being and promote practices that improve teacher-student relationships, foster friendships and develop students’ social-emotional skills.