On Thursday 15th of September, Tibor Navracsics, Commissioner for Education, Culture, Youth and Sport, and OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría held a news conference on the state of education and necessary reforms in OECD and EU countries. At this conference OECD’s Education at a Glance 2016 report was presented.
This report is the leading international compendium of comparable national statistics measuring the state of education worldwide. Education at a Glance 22016 finds that of the 35 OECD countries, only 12 with available data are meeting the benchmark level for at least five of the ten Sustainable Development Goal targets for education. The same is true of just six of the 22 European Union countries part of the OECD with available data. Australia and Canada are top performers, followed by the Netherlands and Belgium with data for all targets and benchmark level performance on at least seven out of the ten targets. Overall, the targets for quality of learning outcomes and skills of students and adults are proving most difficult to hit. Targets for example include that all girls and boys complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education, have access to quality early childhood care and pre-primary education or that all youth and a substantial proportion of adults achieve literacy and numeracy.
Commissioner for Education, Culture, Youth and Sport, Tibor Navracsics, said:” More and more young Europeans are benefitting from pre-primary education. Education at a Glance confirms that high-quality early childhood education and care improves student performance later on and helps immigrants integrate into society. We must continue to support Member States in investing smartly and efficiently in education, from early childhood to adult education. I strongly believe that determined action today will contribute to reducing social exclusion tomorrow and to building a sustainable European society.” Education at a Glance 2016 analyses the education systems of the 35 OECD member countries, as well as Argentina, Brazil, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, India, Indonesia, Lithuania, the Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia and South Africa.
Education at a Glance 2016 in EN and FRas well as the OECD press release in EN and FR are available online. (For more information: Nathalie Vandystadt – Tel.: +32 229 67083; Joseph Waldstein – Tel.: +32 229 56184)