OBESSU reaction to Education at a Glance 2014
Last week, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) released Education at a Glance 2014. Education at a Glance is an annual publication featuring “data on the structure, finances, and performance of education systems in the OECD’s 34 member countries, as well as a number of partner countries”, according to the OECD.
OBESSU is impressed by the extensive data collected in the publication and is glad to see that it brings up several important topics in the field of education. In particular, the following aspects should be pointed out:
During the recent economic crisis, six countries cut their public expenditure in education (p. 222). OBESSU is very worried about this trend; as explained in our Education in Crisis Resolution:
“In some European countries, government austerity programmes have meant a reduction in national education budgets, in real terms. This endangers the quality of provision and stalls the improvement of the education system. The costs of education have often been passed onto students, in the shape of hidden costs and fees. This has created greater inequality between students and damaged equality of opportunity”.
Also, given the fact that higher spending is correlated to higher salaries for teachers and low student-teacher ratios (p. 205), lower public spending is bound to have severe negative consequences for learners as well as for society at large.
Another important topic of the report is the graduation rates of upper secondary education (pp. 54-73). It is indeed a positive sign that “first-time upper secondary graduation rates increased by 8 percentage points” since the year 2000 (p. 56) but behind this number we can find worrying regional disparities and also over- and underrepresentation of different groups. OBESSU would like to point out that the best way of encouraging school students to stay on their tracks is to create an inclusive and student-centred learning environment where each student, no matter his or her background, feels welcome and an equal partner in his or her learning experience.
Much attention in the report is given to the relative earnings of workers with various educational backgrounds (pp. 130-149). Although there is nothing wrong with highlighting certain aspects of this, for example the gender pay gap which sadly runs through all educational attainments, OBESSU thinks that this is a one-sided focus implying a narrow view on education. OBESSU firmly believes that the goal of education is much broader than the purely economic one.
OBESSU would also warn against misinterpretation or misuse of the statistics. As OBESSU pointed out last year in the press release regarding the PISA results, we fear that the use of the OECD’s selective data can be used in order to promote an agenda which does not always have the best in mind for the learners themselves. The data should therefore be interpreted carefully, seen in its full context and cross-checked against the national reality, ensuring no hasty conclusions are made.
Download the full report, or have a look at the short presentation of the key findings.
Download this reaction as PDF.
For more information, please contact board@obessu.org.
