Australia’s classroom disruption among worst in world, prompting calls for ‘digital detox’

Public school students are the equivalent of two and a half years behind their independent peers, as global report shows decline in reading and maths

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Public school students are more than two years behind their independent counterparts and Australia's classroom disruption remains among the worst in the world, a global report has found.

The 2025 Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) results, released on Tuesday by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER), tested the literacy of 15-year-olds in 91 countries, including Australia. The tests have run every three years since 2000.