This post is a summary of two articles. The first with the title of, "A plan for education." It was published at http://www.oecd.org/education/a-plan-for-education.htm. The second with the incomplete title above was published on October 2013, at http://www.oecd.org/newsroom/boosting-skills-essential-for-tackling-joblessness-and-improving-well-being.htm
Jobs, wealth and individual well-being depend on what people can do with what they know. There is no shortcut to equipping people with the right skills and to providing them with opportunities to use their skills effectively. We can do much to equip more people with better skills to collaborate, compete and connect in ways that lead to better jobs and better lives. Poor skills severely limit people`s access to better paying jobs. Besides, where large shares of adults have poor skills, it becomes difficult to introduce productivity-enhancing tech and new ways of working, which stalls improvements in living standards. Skills affect more than earnings and employment. Adults with low skills are far more likely to report poor health, perceive themselves as objects rather than actors in political processes. In short, without the right skills, people will languish on the margins of society, and economies will be unable to grow to potential. Today`s youth are vulnerable, since the crisis beginning in 2008, those without skills have suffered. Indeed, unemployment among young people without a high school education soared 20% in Ireland and 15% in Spain. But there is good news. A few countries, like Austria, Chile, Germany and South Korea, saw a sizeable drop in unemployment rates among their youth. With the right policies and economic environment, these countries have proven success along three lines: build skills that foster employability; give young people the opportunity to make their skills available to the market; and ensure that those skills are used effectively at work. The OECD`s Learning for Jobs report, show the skills development is far more effective if learning and work are integrated. Workplace training can also help to motivate young people and stoke their interest in education. Nordic countries, the Netherlands and Canada, have been better at providing lifelong learning opportunities, both in and outside the workplace, than other countries. They have made information about education opportunities easy to find, and provide certification of competencies that encourage adult learners to keep learning. We need to ensure that talent is used effectively. Policymakers need to maintain and expand the labor-market measures which have proven effective, such as counseling, job-search assistance and temporary hiring subsidies for low-skilled youth. In addition, income support should be linked to searching for work or other efforts to improve their employability.
The low-skilled are more likely than others to be unemployed, have bad health and earn less, according to the first OECD Survey of Adult Skills. This survey is the new PISA for adults ( otherwise known as PIAAC ) The survey measured the skills of 16 to 65 years-old across 24 countries, and looked at how literacy, numeracy and problem-solving is used at work. It provides clear evidence of how developing and using skills improve employment and quality of life as well as boosting economic growth. OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurria said, " with effective education and life-long learning everyone can develop their full potential. The benefits are clear, not only for individuals, but also for societies and for the economy. Learning does not stop at school: government, businesses and people must continue investing in skills throughout life." In England and in the U.S. the literacy and numeracy skills of young people entering the labor market are no better than those leaving for retirement. Young Americans rank the lowest among their peers in the 24 countries surveyed. Social background has a strong impact on skills in some countries. The children of parents with low levels of education in England, Germany, Italy and U.S. have much weaker reading skills than peers with better educated parents. In contrast, Australia, Japan and Sweden show the smallest difference between these two groups. Immigrants performed worse than the native-born, especially those who did not learn the language of their new country. But skills proficiency improves with length of stay in the host country, pointing to the important role of integration policies. The highly skilled were on average three times more likely to take part in further training than the low skilled. The nordic countries and Netherlands have been most successful in boosting adult learning rates among the low-skilled. The U.S., Spain, Italy, England will need to do more to make adult learning more accessible, especially in the workplace.
