Kazakhstan's PISA 2025 reading scores stagnate as curriculum overload persists

September 28, 2026 at 09:09 PM2 min

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Kazakhstan's 15-year-olds scored 385 points in reading on PISA-2025, with only 36% reaching basic proficiency. The education expert Nurgali Rakhymuly attributes the stagnation to overloaded curricula, citing 109 learning objectives for 68 hours of ninth-grade chemistry. The country outperforms OECD averages on equity and teacher support, even as reading scores have barely moved since 2009.

Key Facts

Kazakhstan's PISA-2025 scores were 414 in mathematics, 385 in reading, and 420 in science, compared to OECD averages of 463, 461, and 482 respectively.
Only 36% of Kazakhstani 15-year-olds reached the basic level of reading literacy, a figure that has remained nearly unchanged since 2009.
Ninth-grade chemistry in Kazakhstan allocates 68 hours per year for 109 learning objectives, while physics has 89 objectives for the same 68 hours.
Socio-economic status explains about 5% of the variation in Kazakhstani students' PISA results, compared to 12% on average across OECD countries.
86% of Kazakhstani students reported that teachers continue explaining material until students understand it, versus 66% on average in the OECD.

Reading Stagnation

Kazakhstan's reading score of 385 points in PISA-2025 is nearly identical to its 2009 result, according to education expert Nurgali Rakhymuly. Only 36% of 15-year-olds achieved basic reading proficiency, and almost no students reached the highest proficiency levels. PISA reading tasks require students to locate information, integrate parts of a text, evaluate data, and draw conclusions from materials such as tables, graphs, and instructions. Rakhymuly argues that reading skills must be taught across all subjects, giving the example of chemistry students needing to interpret data tables and explain underlying causes.

Curriculum Overload

Rakhymuly identifies overloaded curricula as a core problem, noting that ninth-grade chemistry has 109 learning objectives for 68 annual hours. Physics in the same grade has 89 objectives for 68 hours, and a fifth-grader faces 446 learning objectives while a ninth-grader faces 729. Increasing instructional time is nearly impossible because ninth-graders already have 35 hours of classes per week against a maximum of 36.

Equity and Teacher Support

Family socio-economic status explains only about 5% of the variation in Kazakhstani students' PISA results, compared to 12% across OECD countries. Nearly one in five students from the least advantaged families ranks among the country's top performers. 86% of Kazakhstani students said teachers keep explaining until students understand, versus an OECD average of 66%. Bullying affects 9% of Kazakhstani students, compared to 20% on average in OECD countries.