Croatia’s latest PISA results prompts call for longer primary school education

ZAGREB, 21 September 2026 (Hina) – Croatia’s latest PISA results have prompted calls for changes to the country’s education system, with the Croatian Employers’ Association (HUP) proposing longer primary education and a stronger focus on mathematics and other basic skills.

The PISA 2025 assessment, conducted by the OECD among 15-year-old students in 91 countries and economies, found that Croatian students performed below the OECD average in mathematics, reading and science.

In mathematics, 64% of Croatian students reached at least the baseline Level 2 proficiency, meaning 36% remained below that level. Only 5% reached the highest proficiency levels of Level 5 or 6, compared with 8% across the OECD.

Croatia’s average mathematics score fell by eight points between 2022 and 2025, while reading performance dropped by 22 points. Science performance changed by six points, although the OECD considers that decline statistically insignificant.

Reading recorded the sharpest decline. Just 68% of Croatian students reached at least Level 2 proficiency, while 3% were top performers. The OECD said Croatia’s reading results were lower than in all previous PISA assessments.

Against this background, HUP chief economist Hrvoje Stojić has argued that weak educational outcomes extend beyond the classroom, potentially affecting productivity, wages and Croatia’s longer-term economic development.

HUP says primary education should become a central priority of future reforms, with greater emphasis on mathematical and other foundational skills. The employers’ association also proposes extending the duration of primary education, arguing that Croatia has among the lowest numbers of recommended teaching hours in Europe while also having a relatively low pupil-to-teacher ratio.

The organisation says the issue is not simply the amount of money spent on education, but how effectively resources are used and how teaching quality and outcomes are measured.

According to HUP, Croatia spends 5.1% of GDP on education, compared with an EU average of 4.7%, while teachers’ gross salaries have also increased significantly. Despite this, educational outcomes remain below average.

HUP also points to the proportion of young adults with tertiary education. Among 25- to 34-year-olds, 45.6% in Croatia have tertiary education, compared with 49% across the EU and 65.4% in the EU’s five highest-performing countries cited by HUP.

The employers’ association links improvements in education to Croatia’s ability to raise productivity and maintain economic convergence with more developed EU economies.

It is also calling for the continuation of modular vocational education reform, stronger links between education and employers, and for increases in education spending and teachers’ pay to be accompanied by measurable improvements in outcomes.

Other proposals include expanding vouchers and micro-credentials for lifelong learning, retraining and employability, particularly in areas connected with the digital and green transitions and occupations facing labour shortages.

The PISA 2025 assessment involved more than 760,000 students globally. In Croatia, 6,424 students from 274 schools took part, representing around 37,100 15-year-olds.

The OECD also highlighted a wider challenge relevant to education in the age of artificial intelligence: reading performance has declined internationally in areas including evaluating information, connecting information from different sources and critical thinking.