OECD’s Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) is a triennial international survey which aims to evaluate education systems worldwide by testing the skills and knowledge of 15-year-old students. In 2015 over half a million students, representing twenty-eight million 15-year-olds in seventy-two countries and economies, took the internationally agreed two-hour test. Students were assessed in science, mathematics, reading, collaborative problem solving and financial literacy.

Commenting on the public release of PISA’s 2015 survey results, Charles Fadel, chair of the Business at OECD (BIAC) Education Committee said, “Employers around the world value the importance of data, and PISA, as a unique instrument in its reach and quality, is the respected influential benchmark which BIAC supports.  However, as the world continues to evolve, so must PISA. BIAC will continue to collaborate with the OECD in expanding and improving measures in other skills and areas relevant for employability, such as entrepreneurship, engineering, creativity, critical thinking, ethics and leadership.”

Education and training are top priorities for business especially in a rapidly changing dynamic work place of today.  Investment in training and access to quality education for all are essential to foster innovation and inclusive growth in our economies. PISA is an important benchmark and comparative analysis towards this goal. The link to the 2015 survey results can be accessed here.

For further information on Business at OECD work on skills and education please visit: BIAC Education Survey and BIAC Character Survey.