Lebanon has recorded weak results in reading, mathematics and science among 15-year-old students, according to the latest OECD education assessment cited by Beirut-based newspaper Al-Modon.
Results from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2025 placed Lebanon among the lower-performing education systems covered by the study.
Lebanese students scored an average of 331 points in reading, 372 in science and 377 in mathematics.
Compared with 2015, the national averages were 20 points lower in mathematics, 19 points lower in reading and 15 points lower in science.
However, the OECD cautioned that this apparent decline should not be read simply as evidence that learning outcomes have worsened across the board.
The share of Lebanon's 15-year-old population represented in PISA has risen significantly over the past decade, meaning more students from groups that were previously underrepresented in secondary education are now included in the assessment.
The OECD said this change in coverage could explain much of the fall in national average scores.
Among the more advantaged group of students who were already represented in the assessment in 2015, science performance actually improved over the decade, while reading and mathematics remained broadly stable.
The reading results nevertheless point to serious problems with basic proficiency.
PISA does not test reading simply as a language skill, but assesses whether students can understand, evaluate and interpret information and apply it in real-life situations.
Only 22% of students in Lebanon reached at least Level 2 in reading, the level the OECD considers the minimum proficiency threshold, compared with an OECD average of 69%.
At this level, students should be able to identify the main idea in a moderately long text, locate information using explicit criteria and reflect on the purpose and form of a text when directed to do so.
Lebanon's average reading score of 331 therefore points to widespread difficulties in reaching basic reading proficiency, rather than an inability among students to read.
The mathematics results were also weak, with Lebanon recording an average score of 377.
Science performance stood at 372 points.
The OECD also cautions that national averages can conceal large differences between the strongest and weakest-performing students.
PISA tests the ability of 15-year-olds to apply knowledge and skills in reading, mathematics and science to real-world problems rather than simply recalling information learned in class.
The assessment also divides students into proficiency levels to show what they are able to do in practical terms.
The Lebanon results do not, however, cover the entire country.
Students in the south were excluded from the assessment because of the war, meaning the published figures apply only to the population covered by the test rather than to all Lebanese 15-year-olds.
The exclusion is significant given the scale of education disruption in southern Lebanon, where schools have repeatedly closed or been converted into shelters during the conflict.
Overall, 7,382 students at 270 schools took part in Lebanon, representing an estimated 56,700 15-year-olds, or about 90% of the country's total population in that age group.
The exclusion of parts of the country is significant because some of the students whose education was most severely disrupted in recent years may not have been included in the sample.
Lebanon’s education system had already been under severe pressure before the latest war, with the country’s economic crisis disrupting schooling and contributing to repeated teacher strikes, closures and students dropping out.
Children have also faced repeated interruptions to learning from overlapping crises, including the financial collapse, the Covid-19 pandemic, the Beirut port explosion and successive rounds of conflict.
During the latest war, hundreds of thousands of children faced further disruption as schools closed, classes were reduced and public buildings were used to house displaced families.
The situation has been particularly acute in the south, where more than 100 schools have been damaged during the conflict.
Even before the latest escalation, UN data had warned that Lebanon’s overlapping crises were pushing growing numbers of children out of education and increasing pressure on families struggling to afford schooling.