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This paper looks at a number of efficiency and equity aspects related to skill acquisition of young people and older adults. The results of this analysis suggest that such human capital investment is associated with valuable labour market gains for people, such as higher wages and enhanced employability, and that these gains exceed the original investment costs, mainly foregone earnings and tuition fees, by a significant margin. The analysis also indicates that the net benefits are strongly influenced by policy-related factors, such as study length, tuition subsidies and student support. Overall, the estimates suggest that there are strong incentives for the average student to continue their education past the compulsory schooling age, and highlight the benefits of such investment in education for society in general. However, the net gains fall with age, mainly as a result of a shorter period in which to take advantage of the benefits of education. In conclusion, the author points out that students in higher education tend to come from more affluent socio-economic backgrounds and that they benefit from large public subsidies. Young people from disadvantaged backgrounds, on the other hand, are less likely to participate in tertiary education and thus derive the benefit from public subsidies. Show less

This pocket book contains key statistical data on OECD member countries. It provides comparable tables on subjects including agriculture and food; development; education and skills; employment; energy; enterprise, industry and services; environment; finance and investment; general economics; health; insurance and pensions; international migration; national accounts; nuclear energy; science and information technology; sustainable development; taxation; territorial economy; trade; and transport. This publication also provides a selection of data in graph format. Show less

OECD’s Education Committee, together with its Employment, Labour and Social Affairs Committee, endorsed a new activity on policies for information, guidance and counselling services in 2000. The main aim of the activity is to understand how the organisation, management and delivery of these services can help to promote key policy activities such as lifelong learning for all and active labour market policies. Fourteen OECD countries were involved in this activity: Australia; Austria; Canada; the Czech Republic; Denmark; Finland; Germany; Ireland; Korea; Luxembourg; the Netherlands; Norway; Spain; and the United Kingdom. Information was gathered using a national questionnaire, country visits, commissioned papers and meetings of national experts and policy makers.

This document is Germany’s response to the national questionnaire. In Germany, a statutory mandate for education and career information, guidance and counselling exists and numerous private and public institutions offer counselling services. The document contains the following 12 sections: Overview; Key goals, influences, issues and initiatives; Policy instruments for steering services; The roles of the stakeholders; Targeting and access; Staffing; Delivery settings; Delivery methods; Career information; Financing; Assuring quality; The evidence base. Also includes six appendices.

Documents from this review are indexed from TD/TNC 73.122 to TD/TNC 73.151; the country paper for Germany is indexed at TD/TNC 73.133. Show less

OECD’s Education Committee, together with its Employment, Labour and Social Affairs Committee, endorsed a new activity on policies for information, guidance and counselling services in 2000. The main aim of the activity is to understand how the organisation, management and delivery of these services can help to promote key policy activities such as lifelong learning for all and active labour market policies. Fourteen OECD countries were involved in this activity: Australia; Austria; Canada; the Czech Republic; Denmark; Finland; Germany; Ireland; Korea; Luxembourg; the Netherlands; Norway; Spain; and the United Kingdom. Information was gathered using a national questionnaire, country visits, commissioned papers and meetings of national experts and policy makers.

This document is the Netherlands’ response to the national questionnaire. In the Netherlands, career services are provided by private providers with the government having no financial involvement. These providers base their own decisions about the services they offer on market demand. The document contains the following 12 sections: Overview; Key goals, influences, issues and initiatives; Policy instruments for steering services; The roles of the stakeholders; Targeting and access; Staffing; Delivery settings; Delivery methods; Career information; Financing; Assuring quality; The evidence base. Also includes six appendices.

Documents from this review are indexed from TD/TNC 73.122 to TD/TNC 73.151; the country paper for Netherlands is indexed at TD/TNC 73.132. Show less

Each country has its own system of financing educational facilities. However, the general trends are towards diversification of funding sources and decentralisation of responsibility. This report, presented in both English and French, investigates the links between decentralisation and new methods of financing. It is based on presentations to a seminar organised by the OECD Programme on Educational Building (PEB) and the Spanish Ministry of Education and held in Toledo, Spain on 22-25 February 2000 to discuss procedures for financing educational facilities. The report looks at how investment in educational facilities raises financing issues which can lead to privatisation and to increased decentralisation in management and planning. The chapters are: Financing expenditure on education: trends and latent problems / Ferran Ferrer; Financing educational infrastructure: an examination of Mexico's federalisation / Jesus Alvarez; Pre-school, elementary and secondary education sector in Quebec / Rejean Carrier; Financing educational building and contractualisation in higher education in France / Thierry Malan; European Investment Bank experience with investments in educational buildings / Agustin Auria and Olivier Debande. In the conclusion, John Mayfield outlines a list of criteria, developed through seminar presentations and group discussions, by which the strengths and weaknesses of the financing of educational facilities could be evaluated. The discussions reveal that local control of funding can ensure greater effectiveness and responsiveness to local needs but central government remains responsible for ensuring access to equity and equality of educational opportunity. The greatest challenge in education funding is to achieve compatibility between these objectives and technological development. Show less

OECD’s Education Committee, together with its Employment, Labour and Social Affairs Committee, endorsed a new activity on policies for information, guidance and counselling services in 2000. The main aim of the activity is to understand how the organisation, management and delivery of these services can help to promote key policy activities such as lifelong learning for all and active labour market policies. Fourteen OECD countries were involved in this activity: Australia; Austria; Canada; the Czech Republic; Denmark; Finland; Germany; Ireland; Korea; Luxembourg; the Netherlands; Norway; Spain; and the United Kingdom. Information was gathered using a national questionnaire, country visits, commissioned papers and meetings of national experts and policy makers.

This document is Ireland’s response to the national questionnaire. In Ireland, information, guidance and counselling services are funded by the relevant sections of the Department of Education and Science (DES) and the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, the former funding guidance in educational settings and the latter funding vocational guidance and counselling in the labour market sector. The document contains the following 12 sections covering the two sectors: Overview; Key goals, influences, issues and initiatives; Policy instruments for steering services; The roles of the stakeholders; Targeting and access; Staffing; Delivery settings; Delivery methods; Career information; Financing; Assuring quality; The evidence base.

Documents from this review are indexed from TD/TNC 73.122 to TD/TNC 73.151; Ireland’s country paper is indexed at TD/TNC 73.139. Show less

The OECD education indicators enable countries to compare their educational performance with that of other countries. This publication provides a broad, comparable and current selection of educational indicators that provide information on the output of educational institutions and the impact of learning, the policy that shapes educational outcomes and how education systems operate and evolve, and the human and financial resources invested in education. The focus of this edition is on the quality of learning outcomes and the policy levers that shape them. The volume includes a comparative overview of student performance in reading, mathematical and scientific literacy as well as of students’ civic engagement and attitudes. In addition to national performance levels, the overview also examines issues of equity in learning outcomes and opportunities as well as the broader private and social returns that accrue to investments in education. New information on student learning conditions, including the learning climate in the classroom and the use of information technology in education as well as on teacher working conditions provide a better understanding of key determinants of educational success. Finally, for many indicators, a significantly larger number of OECD countries are now providing data. Through the World Education Indicators program, a wide range of non-member countries have also contributed to this edition so that the coverage of some of the indicators extends to almost two-thirds of the world population. The four major chapters examine the outcomes of education and learning, the financial and human resources invested in education, access to education and participation and progression through the education system, and the learning environment and organisation of schools.

The companion volume ‘Education policy analysis’ (indexed at TD/TNC 72.300) takes up selected themes of key importance for governments. Show less

OECD’s Education Committee, together with its Employment, Labour and Social Affairs Committee, endorsed a new activity on policies for information, guidance and counselling services in 2000. The main aim of the activity is to understand how the organisation, management and delivery of these services can help to promote key policy activities such as lifelong learning for all and active labour market policies. Fourteen OECD countries were involved in this activity: Australia; Austria; Canada; the Czech Republic; Denmark; Finland; Germany; Ireland; Korea; Luxembourg; the Netherlands; Norway; Spain; and the United Kingdom. Information was gathered using a national questionnaire, country visits, commissioned papers and meetings of national experts and policy makers.

This document is the country paper for Canada. It is based on the draft national questionnaire response and other documentation and provides a summary of the impressions of the review team and its suggestions for ways in which policies for career information, guidance and counselling might be developed in Canada. The document contains the following sections: Introduction; The context; The Canadian career development system; The main sectors (covering schools, universities and community colleges, public employment services, community-based services, and the private sector); Key policy issues (which covers converting information into action, establishing more coherent and accountable frameworks for career development within the education system, extending services to employed adults, assuring the quality of service delivery, and strengthening strategic leadership); and Conclusions. Includes appendices.

Documents from this review are indexed from TD/TNC 73.122 to TD/TNC 73.151; Canada’s response to the national questionnaire is indexed at TD/TNC 72.137. Show less

OECD’s Education Committee, together with its Employment, Labour and Social Affairs Committee, endorsed a new activity on policies for information, guidance and counselling services in 2000. The main aim of the activity is to understand how the organisation, management and delivery of these services can help to promote key policy activities such as lifelong learning for all and active labour market policies. Fourteen OECD countries were involved in this activity: Australia; Austria; Canada; the Czech Republic; Denmark; Finland; Germany; Ireland; Korea; Luxembourg; the Netherlands; Norway; Spain; and the United Kingdom. This questionnaire was part of the information gathering process which also included country visits, commissioned papers and meetings of national experts and policy makers. The questionnaire provides important background and contextual material and asks questions relating to how countries organise, manage and provide information, guidance and counselling services. It also provides a comparative database to help understand how countries differ in their approaches and how they are trying to solve the challenges they face. The questionnaire contains 12 sections: Overview; Key goals, influences, issues and initiatives; Policy instruments for steering services; The roles of the stakeholders; Targeting and access; Staffing; Delivery settings; Delivery methods; Career information; Financing; Assuring quality; The evidence base.

Documents from this review are indexed from TD/TNC 73.122 to TD/TNC 73.151. Show less

The OECD thematic review of adult learning was undertaken between December 1999 and November 2001 to analyse policy options in different national contexts for improving access to, and participation in, adult learning and to enhance its quality and effectiveness. OECD countries taking part in the review prepared a descriptive background report on the adult learning practices in their own countries. The visiting OECD multinational review teams analysed adult learning in the participating countries, drawing on the background reports, discussions with stakeholders and site visits. The main issues associated with adult learning and policy responses in the country under review were then reported in a country note. The note addresses the four major themes that have an effect on participation by adults in learning: (1) inadequate incentives and motivations for adults to learn; (2) complex pathways between learning settings and a lack of transparency in signalling learning outcomes across a variety of formal and non-formal settings; (3) inappropriate teaching and learning methods; and (4) a lack of coordination between various public policies that directly or indirectly affect lifelong learning. The final comparative report addresses the different issues and policy responses in a comparative perspective. This document represents the country note for Canada.

The background country reports available in English are indexed from TD/TNC 73.64 to TD/TNC 73.69 and at TD/TNC 62.795. Available analytical country notes, prepared by the OECD multinational review team and based on the background reports and discussions with national stakeholders, are indexed from TD/TNC 73.70 to TD/TNC 73.75. The final comparative report is indexed at TD/TNC 73.63. Show less