Sunday, October 25, 2009
The educational journey at a glance.
The latest OECD international comparison survey reveals fascinating variations in the educational journey a child makes depending on which of the 23 countries they live in.
The findings of the statistical analysis of data across 23 OECD countries reveal positive trends, for example, the number of young adults completing secondary education compared to older adults rose by an average of 22%. The increase was most dramatic in Belgium, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Korea, Portugal and Spain all of which had an increase of over 30%. This means that in 2009 virtually every child born across the 23 OECD countries has access to at least 12 years of formal education. Enrolment rates for 15-19 year-olds increased on average from 74% to 81% from 1995 to 2007.
At the start of the journey
In more than half of the OCED countries, over 70% of 3-4 year olds are enrolled in education programmes including structured nursary provision at the age of four or under. These were Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, the Slovak Republic, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom. In most OECD countries over 90% of children were enrolled in education between the age of five and six.
As formal lessons begin
Once in school, the amount of formal lessons received varies greatly. Formal requirements range from fewer than 6 000 hours in Finland, Korea, Norway and Sweden to over 8 000 hours in Italy. Countries which were consistently high in student achievement tables had fewer hours of compulsory lessons per school year.
As curriculum routes are offered
The curriculum flexibility and focus also changes across the 23 countries.
Across all OECD countries an average of 47% of the compulsory curriculum for 9-11 year-olds is devoted to three basic subject areas: reading, writing and literature (23%), mathematics (16%) and science (8%). But there is great variation among countries in the percentage of class time devoted to these subjects. Reading, writing and literature, for example, accounts for 13% or less of instruction time in Australia, for example, compared with 30% or more in France, Mexico and the Netherlands.
There are also great differences in the time spent learning modern languages. In Australia, Japan, Mexico and the Netherlands, 1% or less of instruction time for 9-11 year-olds is spent on learning other languages, compared with over 10% in the Czech Republic, Portugal, Spain and Sweden, and 21% in Luxembourg.
Within the part of the curriculum not dedicated to the three main subject areas, students have varying degrees of freedom to choose the subjects they want to learn. Australia offers the greatest degree of flexibility in the non- compulsory curriculum for 9-11 year-olds: up to 58% of that curriculum can be shaped by the students themselves.
At the end of compulsory education
The age at which compulsory education ends ranges from 14 in Korea, Portugal and Turkey, to 18 in Belgium, Germany, Hungary and the Netherlands.
On average across OECD countries, graduation rates from university-level education have increased by 18 percentage points over the past 12 years, and there were increases – often quite substantial – in virtually every country for which data are available. Graduation rates range from 20% or less in Greece to 45% or more in Australia, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, New Zealand and Poland. – Graduation rates for young women are notably higher than those for young men – 47% versus 31%..
Education at a Glance 2009 highlights for the UK:
*starting salary rates for teachers are increasing faster in England than the OECD average
*UK’s 15-year-olds performing well above the OECD average in science ·
*the UK has a high spend per student in terms of the OECD country average ·
*the UK continues to be attractive to overseas students, with a market share second only to the USA ·
*an above-average proportion of adults overall hold HE degrees with fairly high earning returns to possessing a degree
*public education spending as a proportion of GDP has been rising and lies slightly above the OECD average, as does spending from public and private sources taken together.
To read the OECD Education At a Glance Report Highlights click here.
For full report: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (2009). Education at a Glance 2009: OECD Indicators. Paris: OECD [online]. Available: [September, 2009].Website: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)