Montenegro is showing signs of progress in education, according to the latest PISA 2025 results, with the OECD highlighting a decline in the share of students performing below the basic level of proficiency. The assessment was discussed at a regional conference in Bratislava attended by representatives from countries across Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Montenegro’s Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation said the latest results point not only to better overall performance, but also to a reduction in the number of students struggling to reach basic achievement levels.
The latest findings represent an important development for Montenegro, which has faced challenges in student performance in previous PISA assessments. In the 2022 results, Montenegro remained below the OECD average in mathematics, reading and science, with only 40 percent of students reaching at least Level 2 in mathematics, compared with 69 percent across OECD countries. The 2025 results indicate that some of the negative trends have started to reverse, particularly when it comes to the proportion of students at the lowest performance levels.
The OECD’s assessment also shows that progress is not identical across all subjects. Compared with 2015, the share of low performing students in Montenegro decreased by 11 percentage points in science, while it did not change significantly in reading. In mathematics, however, the proportion of students performing below Level 2 increased by four percentage points compared with 2015. The results therefore present a mixed picture, with improvements in some areas alongside challenges that Montenegro’s education system still needs to address.
Education officials and international experts see the results as an indication that continued reforms and investment can produce improvements over time. Montenegro still performs below the OECD average overall, meaning there is considerable room for further progress, particularly in ensuring that more students reach basic proficiency across all three areas. The latest PISA findings nevertheless provide a more positive signal for the country’s education system, especially because reducing the number of students at the lowest achievement levels can help create a stronger foundation for future academic and professional development.
