Photo/Illutration The Asahi Shimbun

First-year high schoolers tumbled seven spots to 15th place in reading comprehension on a global aptitude survey that measures their readiness to become functioning members of society.

Education ministry officials partly attributed the poor performance to an increased reliance among young people on short texts in the era of social media.

The results were released by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) on Dec. 3.

In the 2018 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), Japanese 15-year-olds scored 504 points in reading comprehension.

While the score is higher than the OECD average of 487 points, it marked a 12-point drop from the previous survey in 2015.

The OECD said the drop is outside the margin of error, meaning it isn't an anomaly but due to certain factors.

The PISA is a triennial survey of 15-year-old students around the world to assess their ability in reading, mathematics and science deemed "key knowledge and skills essential for full participation in society," according to the OECD.

Japan has maintained top-level performance in science and mathematics, the two other sections of the PISA survey.

Japanese students scored 529 points in science, compared with the OECD average of 489 points, although their ranking dropped from No. 2 to No. 5.

They scored 527 points in mathematics, compared with the OECD average of 489 points, dropping from fifth to sixth.

The reading assessment section used a variety of forms of digital text, including websites, posted texts and e-mail. The students were asked to read and compare multiple sources of information online and decide whether or not the texts were factual by clicking on a response or typing in the answer.

For instance, in a question about microwave safety, students were asked to look up a website to find the necessary information and provide an answer. It emerged that 56.1 percent of the Japanese students answered correctly, compared with the OECD average of 59.2 percent.

In another question, the students had to assess the quality and credibility of information after reading and comparing a manufacturing company promotional website and a magazine article published online. In a free-answer section, the students were asked to explain their method and provide supporting evidence.

Just 8.9 percent of Japanese students answered correctly, significantly lower than the OECD average of 27 percent.

Japan's mean reading score fell sharply in the 2003 PISA survey, with education officials referring to it as a "PISA shock."

Japan climbed in the rankings in 2009 and 2012, but the score dropped again in 2015.

Since the 2015 survey, the PISA has been computer based. Education ministry officials have partly attributed the poor performance results in reading to the change, saying that students nowadays are unaccustomed to answering questions using a computer.

Officials also said students in Japan have fewer opportunities to read passages of substantial length owing to the spread of social network sites.

“The linguistic environment has changed rapidly,” an official said.

The OECD started the PISA survey in 2000 with 32 participating countries.

In 2018, about 600,000 students from 79 nations and economies completed the PISA survey.

In Japan, about 6,100 students representing 183 schools participated. The test takers were selected on the basis of standard statistical methods.