Education at a Glance 2023

                     All around the world, governments have realized the importance of education, they are investing more and expecting good results. Became a widespread consensus that education needs an upgrade to meet the demands of the technological evolution. On 5th of December, OECD will disclose the results of the international test PISA and more statistics about education. This post is a summary of the book with the title above published in 2023 at   https://www.oecd.org/education/education-at-a-glance/

                           Governments are increasingly looking to international comparisons of education opportunities and outcomes as they develop policies to enhance individuals' social and economic prospects, provide incentives for greater efficiency in schooling, and help to mobilise resources to meet rising demands. This book addresses the needs of a range of users, from governments seeking to learn policy lessons to academic requiring data for further analysis and the general public wanting to monitor how their countries' schools are progressing in producing world-class students. High-quality early childhood education helps to give children an equitable start in life. Once children reach the age of 3, education is the norm in the vast majority of OECD countries, with an average enrollment rate of 74%. Nevertheless, in four countries the proportion of children enrolled remains in the single digits. Upper secondary attainment is often considered the minimum requirement for successful participation in the labour market. However, on average, 14% of all 25-34 year-olds across the OECD had not completed upper secondary education in 2022. While this share is still high, it represents a significant improvement compared with 2015, when it was 18%. Adequate funding is a precondition for providing high-quality education. Most OECD countries invest 3-4% of their GDP in primary and secondary education, rising to at least 5% of GDP in Colombia and Israel. Many OECD countries are facing teacher shortages. Competitive salaries are crucial to retaining and attracting more individuals to the profession. The extent to which education is combined with employment in early adulthood varies considerably across countries. The share of adults in education and employed for 18-24 years-olds is over 35% in Australia, Netherlands and Norway. Over two-thirds of 18-24 year-olds are ot in education in Colombia, Israel, New Zealand and Turkiye. As with other measures of civic engagement, there is a positive relation between posting about politics online and educational attainment. Among adults in tertiary education, digital media literacy fosters online political participation. Adult learning is becoming a crucial tools for societies as they look to adapt to emerging challenges and benefit from new opportunities. Technological change means an increasing number of jobs can be automated, while demographic change will mean fewer young people entering the labour market. These trends are already having impacts on labour markets. On average, 13% of women and 10% of men participate in training across OECD. This share ranges from just 1% in Bulgaria and Turkiye, to over 20% in Denmark and 30% in Sweden. Larger enterprises invest a larger share of their labour costs in training. There is a growing consensus about the importance of high-quality early childhood education. Research from a variety of context suggest that high-quality early education is associated with positive outcomes in both the short and long term. The proportion of students who drop-out from vocational programmes are relatively high in some countries, with at least one in four dropping out in Brazil, Belgium, Italy, Lithuania, Norway, Portugal and Spain. High drop-out rates are worring, as young people who fail to complete upper secondary education are most at risk of becoming unemployed. There are countries where short-cycle tertiary programmes, which are mostly vocational, are relatively popular. For instance, in the year after their upper secondary graduation, 19% of general upper secondary graduates in Spain are enrolled in a short-cycle tertiary programme, followed by 18% in Canada and 15% in Colombia. In Canada, for example, colleges offering short-cycle tertiary education are very popular and play a key role in preparing young people for entry into the labour market. For those students who do not immediately pursue further studies, countries should ensure that upper secondary education prepares them for entry labour market, as well as for higher education. In Finland. for instance, the gap years between upper secondary education and tertiary level are common, mainly due to restricted entry to tertiary education or voluntary breaks to decide on what career to pursue. In 2021, 27% of new entrants chose one of the science, tech, engineering and math fields, followed by business, administration and law, chosen by 24% of all students, health and welfare with 14%, arts and humanities 10% and social science and journalism with 10%. Many OECD countries are aiming to reduce the age at which students complete tertiary education, so that they can enter the workforce early as possible. In 2021, the average age of graduates was 26 across OECD countries. However, there is notable variation between countries ranging from 22 in Japan to 29 in Latvia. International students are in significant numbers in some countries in short-cycle tertiary education. Australia has the largest share with 32% and is followed by Canada where 24% of short-cycle tertiary students are foreign, 19% in Iceland and 13% in Portugal. Between 2019 and 2020, total government expenditure on education increased in most OECD countries. Governments invested in various aspects of remote learning infrastructure, including technology, online learning platforms and teacher training for virtual instruction. Governments have allocated funds to support students by providing devices and internet access to disadvantaged students and supporting schools in implementing health and safety protocols. However, there are some exceptions: Brazil, Chile, Hungary and Turkiye, reported reductions of at least 5% in government spending on education between 2019 and 2020.