Paraguay recorded declines in reading and science in PISA 2025, the international assessment by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) administered to 15-year-old students. The average score fell from 373 to 352 points in reading and from 368 to 355 in science compared with 2022. In mathematics, the result was 334 points, four fewer; the change was described as technically within stable margins by a publication that analyzed the results.
About 24% of students reached at least level 2, considered basic by the OECD, in reading, and about 24% reached that level in science. In mathematics, the figure was 10%, compared with OECD averages of 69%, 74% and approximately 65%, respectively. The report indicates that 77% scored below the basic level in reading; this indicator measures specific reading-comprehension skills and does not literally mean that these students cannot understand any text.
In the regional comparison, Paraguay ranked 11th among 13 Latin American countries, ahead only of the Dominican Republic, with 346 points, and Guatemala, with 337. A published comparison of the results characterized the reading decline as the steepest in Latin America, while Chile, with 436 points, and Uruguay, with 423, scored well above Paraguay.
The results should be interpreted cautiously: PISA 2025 was Paraguay’s first digital administration, and the OECD itself recommends care when comparing computer-based tests with earlier paper-based tests. A total of 6,510 students from 293 schools took part, representing about 82,400 young people, or 80% of the 15-year-old population. The expansion of secondary education to groups previously less well served may also have influenced part of the decline.
The survey also shows that 42% of students were in schools whose principals reported difficulties caused by a lack of materials and infrastructure. One-third belonged to the sample’s most disadvantaged socioeconomic group, and 28% reported experiencing some form of bullying several times a month or more. Girls had an advantage in reading, with 361 points compared with 343 for boys; in mathematics, boys scored 341 against 326. In science, the difference was not considered significant.
Technology use appears in the debate over the causes, but not as proof of causation. One report linked the setback to screen use, artificial intelligence, changing study habits, and a lack of teachers and resources; PISA does not establish that these factors directly caused the decline. Forty-five percent of students said they used artificial-intelligence chatbots to study at least once a week, close to the OECD average of 46%.
Criticism also targets the education policies of Santiago Peña’s government. The Ñe’ēry reading program, launched by the Ministry of Education and Sciences (MEC) in September 2023 with an initially announced investment of US$12 million, was questioned by teachers, who said they had bought materials to set up libraries and complained about an increase in reports sent to district supervisory offices—regional administrative structures that monitor schools.
Allegations from more than 40 publishing houses and the Academy of the Guarani Language were reported regarding the purchase, approved by Luis Ramírez through Itaipu, of books worth US$7.3 million. The criticism cited a lack of clear pedagogical design, requirements considered exclusionary, and a possible conflict of interest involving Atlas Representaciones S.A., headed by Fernando Moreira, the husband of Silvia “Chichi” Gadea, the cousin of first lady Leticia Ocampos and a cousin by marriage of President Peña. These allegations do not in themselves establish proven wrongdoing.
Ramírez said he would explain the reasons for the decline at a press conference on Friday. The results also prompted discussion of Ñe’ēry, the book purchases, and reported conditions in Paraguayan schools.