The results of PISA 2025 - the International Program for Student Assessment - have been announced. According to the results, Azerbaijan ranked 49th in mathematics, and this direction is considered one of the country's best indicators. The capital Baku ranked 29th among 91 countries and regions, scoring 465 points in mathematics. The Minister of Science and Education, Emin Amrullayev, also stated that the results in mathematics are among Azerbaijan's most successful indicators.
It is interesting to know what changes implemented in the education system in recent years have had the most impact on these results? What factors are related to Azerbaijan being one of the countries that has shown the most progress in mathematics?
Sabuh Abdullayev, an expert in science and education, gave a statement to AzEdu.az on the topic.
In the era of artificial intelligence, specialties requiring mathematical knowledge are more promising:
"According to the PISA results announced by the Ministry of Science and Education in recent days, Azerbaijani schools have shown significant progress. Here, of course, the verification processes related to mathematics, and at the same time, the fact that PISA is an assessment process conducted with high accuracy and where additional interventions are not possible, should be taken into account. The increase in these indicators is, of course, gratifying.
So what are the main factors causing this? I think that, first of all, every parent's deeper understanding of the importance of mathematics plays an important role here. In the era of artificial intelligence, and at the same time, against the background of the abolition of some specialties and the decrease in interest in them, it is also noticeable that specialties requiring mathematical knowledge will be more promising in the coming years.
And for this reason, parents unequivocally direct their children from an early age to mathematics, to instill mathematical knowledge and to develop their logical thinking. This is not only related to school support, but also to their preparation in various training centers and courses.
In addition, of course, various processes related to mathematics are carried out. One of these processes, for example, is computer-based projects organized by the Ministry of Science and Education. Special projects are carried out in this direction among students, and this also shows its positive effect."
There is a significant increase in the passing scores of those admitted to mathematics specialties:
"It is also visible in the statistics of the State Examination Center that there is a significant increase in the passing scores of those admitted to mathematics specialties. I teach at the mathematics faculty of Baku State University, and the minimum passing score for children admitted here was 621 points. And so, all those studying in this group are students who scored 650 and higher.
When they continue their activities as mathematics teachers in the future, the children and students they teach also learn mathematics to a sufficiently high degree.
Undoubtedly, if we take all these cases into account, I also think that there is a significant increase in the number of scientific articles by scientists working in the mathematical field and the number of citations to these articles.
Overall, the Azerbaijani mathematics school is still functioning well. Here, both the Institute of Mathematics and the mathematics school of Baku State University can be mentioned. All these factors have had a positive impact on increasing mathematical knowledge."
