Albania tops Western Balkans in PISA mathematics, Rama says

Prime Minister of Albania Edi Rama addressed education and Albania’s performance in the international PISA 2025 test during the first episode of the seventh season of his podcast “Flasim”.

Rama highlighted the improvement in Albanian students’ results, describing it as the outcome of long‑term work and a comprehensive transformation of the education system, CE Report quotes ATA.

According to the prime minister, the improvement is not only linked to investments in school infrastructure or the quality of textbooks, but also to the way schools are administered and managed.

“These results are the fruit of long‑term work, of a comprehensive transformation, of an effort to raise not simply the quality of infrastructure or textbooks, but the quality of school administration,” Rama said.

Rama further highlighted the importance of training school principals, pointing to the Directors’ School and the rising number of principals receiving specialised instruction. He also linked the improvement in results to stronger cooperation between schools and parents, while commending the role of the students themselves.

“And certainly also as a result of the intensity of interaction between schools and parents — without taking away any credit from the students themselves,” he said.

The prime minister argued that Albanian pupils have been the same in previous years, while the change, in his view, has come from improvements in other factors influencing the quality of education.

Rama said Albanian pupils have remained the same, but earlier PISA performances were poorer because other elements of the education system were lacking. He noted that Albania began its improvement from the bottom of Western Balkans rankings and has now risen to the top, particularly in mathematics.

“Albania began its climb to the top of the Western Balkans rankings from the very bottom — last, and last by a wide margin — and today we are first in mathematics,” Rama said.

Albanian students have recorded improvement across all three areas assessed by the international PISA 2025 test compared with 2022 results. Education Minister Mirela Kumbaro announced the data at the OECD ministerial on the release of PISA 2025 results, noting Albania registered improvement of 65 points in mathematics, 59 in science and 50 in reading.

Photo: Pexels (Free Stock Photos)