Tbilisi, Georgia – September 2026, Georgia has demonstrated substantial progress in the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA 2025) recording significantly improved results in science, mathematics and reading.
Compared with PISA 2022, Georgia’s average score increased by 38 points in science, 26 points in mathematics and 10 points in reading. The country achieved its strongest science and mathematics results of the past decade, with the increase in science ranking among the largest improvements recorded internationally.
Georgia’s progress is particularly noteworthy against the background of declining educational performance in many countries. PISA 2025 assessed more than 760,000 15-year-old students across 91 countries and economies. In Georgia, 6,855 students from 265 schools participated in the study.
The results reflect the combined effect of sustained national education reforms, the work of teachers and school leaders, and long-term investments made by Georgia and its international partners. An important foundation for this progress was established through the $140 million Millennium Challenge Corporation–Georgia Compact II, implemented between 2014 and 2019 and dedicated entirely to education.
Through the Compact’s Improving General Education Quality Project, approximately 18,000 upper-grade teachers in science, mathematics, English and geography received professional development focused on student-centred teaching, critical thinking, collaboration and formative assessment. Nearly 2,000 school directors also participated in training designed to strengthen school leadership and management.
The Compact additionally rehabilitated 91 public schools serving more than 37,000 students. Every rehabilitated school received a modern science laboratory, alongside major improvements in heating, lighting, electricity, water, sanitation, air quality and classroom safety.
An independent evaluation commissioned by MCC found that these investments produced substantial improvements in school environments. Three to five years after rehabilitation, beneficiary schools demonstrated meaningful positive effects on mathematics, science and language outcomes, estimated to be equivalent to approximately half a year of additional learning for Grade 10 students.
The Compact also helped establish a broader culture of science and innovation. The Millennium Innovations Award, initiated in 2014 and continued by the Millennium Foundation, has engaged nearly 4,000 young people from across Georgia in developing innovative projects in science, engineering, technology, robotics, artificial intelligence, healthcare and environmental protection.
“Georgia’s PISA 2025 results demonstrate why sustained investment in teachers, learning environments and students’ engagement with science matters. While progress of this scale is always the result of many interconnected reforms and the dedicated work of educators, the evidence confirms that the MCC–Georgia Compact II created an important foundation for improving STEM education in Georgia,” said Magda Magradze, CEO of Millennium Foundation.
The Millennium Foundation was established in 2019 to support the sustainability and continuation of human-capital development initiatives introduced through the MCC–Georgia Compact II.
