Prime Minister Edi Rama has chosen to present Albania’s PISA 2025 result as a major success for the government and the education system, declaring in a live appearance on Facebook that the country ranked first in the region. According to his version, improvement was recorded in mathematics, science and reading, while Albania also left behind several countries that are part of the European Union.
What Rama said about Albania’s ranking
In his reaction, Rama called the result an “extraordinary report card” and said Albania performed “better than ever before” in the international PISA 2025 test, which measures the learning level of students in pre-university education.
He claimed that, after the marked decline during the Covid period, the country has made a strong improvement and now stands at the top of the region in some of the testing areas.
Credit the government attributes to the education system
The prime minister said this result is not only the students’ achievement, but is also linked to the work of teachers, school leaders and the Ministry of Education. He also highlighted what he called the “School of Directors,” presenting it as a success story in the management of educational institutions.
At its core, Rama’s message was that the result should be read as proof of the effect of reforms and of work accumulated over the years in education.
From the result to political propaganda
Beyond the figures mentioned, Rama’s reaction quickly took on a political tone. He attacked critics on social media and presented opposing comments as attempts to overshadow a success that, according to him, is publicly verifiable.
This way of communicating shifts attention away from the core issue: what the scores are exactly, where Albania ranks in each field and how it compares with countries in the region and the EU. These are the data needed to judge the real weight of the result, beyond political enthusiasm.
The claim about EU countries still needs to be read carefully
One of the strongest points of the statement was the assertion that Albania has outperformed several member states of the European Union. But without a detailed presentation of the comparative tables, this remains a claim that should be read carefully and in the full context of the results.
The PISA test is widely used as an indicator of the quality of education, but interpreting it requires more than triumphant slogans. Regional ranking and international comparisons carry weight only when accompanied by full transparency on the results and methodology.
For the moment, the public reaction is coming mainly from the prime minister, who has turned the result into a political argument for the government and the Ministry of Education.
What remains in the public interest is the full publication of the data and a reading of it without propagandistic filters, to understand whether this is a meaningful improvement in education or another case of official self-assessment.