North Macedonia and Albania face education and demographic challenges

Recent PISA 2025 results highlight a significant education crisis in North Macedonia, where approximately 74% of 15-year-old students fail to reach basic reading proficiency. The country ranks among the lowest in Europe, trailing regional neighbors such as Slovenia, Croatia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Albania. In mathematics, only 32% of students reach the minimum level, while in science, 36% achieve basic proficiency. These figures fall significantly below the OECD average.

In Albania, the educational landscape faces different challenges. While Minister of Education Mirela Kumbaro claims PISA results show improvement due to curriculum reforms and teacher training, researcher Taulant Muka has raised concerns regarding the sample selection. He notes a ‘structural coverage gap’ because smaller schools, often in disadvantaged rural areas, were not included in the testing, potentially biasing the results toward higher scores.

Additionally, Albania has seen a 4% decline in primary school enrollment in a single year, a drop sharper than the EU average. This decline primarily affects public institutions, whereas private school enrollment has seen a slight increase. Meanwhile, North Macedonia faces broader demographic pressures, including a shrinking population and an aging society, which has contributed to a loss of over 75,000 primary school students over the last 25 years.