This conference was held at the invitation of the European Commission, DG Education and Training. Participants were welcomed by Xavier Prats Monné, Deputy Director General at the European Commission DG EAC. The report was presented by Andreas Schleicher, Deputy Director General for Education at OECD.
The report provides info on the state of play in education and training, including the finances, human resources, student-teacher ratios, investments, graduate numbers,.. Some new indicators focus on the effect of the global economic crisis on educational expentditure. Six EU countries are not covered by OECD (Bulgaria, Cyprus, Lithuania, Latvia, Malta, Romania).
Positive points were highlighted: Early Childhood Education and Care is a success story for Europe; Europe continues to be the preferred destination for students studying outside their country. A lot of challenges remain in the field of education and training:
Tertiary levels have increased considerately, but socio-economic and gender inequalities in access to tertiary education may temper expansion over the next decade.
The ageing of the teaching force, with an extremely steep replacement rate, is an increasing concern.
Intergenerational mobility is problematic.
The EC and the OECD announced that they will work together more closely in the future in order to strengthen the impact of their work.
The EC announced the upcoming communication on ‘Rethinking skills’, expected in November 2012. The communication will try to provide answers to the challenge how to reform and innovate in times of crisis.
