Salvador Illa addresses PISA test errors and new school AI limits

Catalan President Salvador Illa has addressed the controversy surrounding the 2025 PISA tests, describing errors in the sampling process as “grave and unacceptable.” The error resulted in the exclusion of 23.2% of students, significantly exceeding the 5% maximum threshold set by the OECD. This discrepancy has invalidated the reliability of the regional results, making them incomparable to previous years or other territories.

Illa attributed the issue to incomplete information provided to schools by the Consell Superior d’Avaluació and failures in supervision and communication. In response to the crisis, the Generalitat is seeking to stabilize the educational system through several initiatives. This includes a proposed summit with political groups to reach a country-wide agreement on education and the involvement of the Catalan Education Council (CEC) to lead a debate on the current educational model.

Additionally, the government is proposing new digital wellbeing measures. These include limiting the use of artificial intelligence in schools until students reach age 14 and reinforcing the ban on mobile phones in compulsory education. Illa also emphasized a return to traditional learning tools, such as textbooks and handwriting, to combat screen addiction and improve literacy.