High-quality education benefits all and remains a government priority, but despite notable progress, some groups still lag behind. One in six 25-34 year-olds across the OECD lacks an upper secondary education. In the EU, young adults who have dropped out of upper secondary school face unemployment rates of 21.2%, compared with 8% for their tertiary‑educated peers. In a highly demanding and fast‑paced world, a lack of higher level skills comes at a big cost for families and society. Gender imbalances also persist. In many countries, immigrants tend to lag behind their native born peers in educational attainment at all stages.
Trends Shaping Education examines major trends affecting the future of education and sets the background on upcoming challenges for policy makers and education providers alike. This work does not give conclusive answers: it is not an analytical report nor is it a statistical compendium, and it is certainly not a statement of OECD policy on these different developments. It is instead a stimulus for thinking about major tendencies that have the potential to influence education, and conversely, the potential of education to influence these trends.
Education at a glance provides data on the output of educational institutions, the impact of learning across countries; the financial and human resources invested in education; access, participation and progression in education; the learning environment and organisation of schools. The 2015 report also examines first generation tertiary-educated adults’ educational and social mobility, labour market outcomes for recent graduates, participation in employer-sponsored formal and/or non-formal education, readiness to use information and communication technology for problem solving in teaching and learning. The report provides indicators on the impact of skills on employment and earnings, gender differences in education and employment, and teacher and school leader appraisal systems.
‘Education at a glance’ is an important source for information on the state of education around the world. It provides data on the structure, finances and performance of the education systems in 34 OECD member countries, as well as some G20 and partner countries. This publication is based on 2013 data collected in the first half of 2014; it is an update of the ‘Education at a glance 2014’ report, and will be followed by the publication of the 2014 data in ‘Education at a glance 2015’.
