Asia leads OECD education league table
Asian countries provide the best education in the world, according to a new report co-authored by IZA research fellow Eric Hanushek.
The report, published by the OECD, ranks countries based on science and mathematics test scores at age 15. Singapore is ranked first, with fellow Asian countries Hong Kong, South Korea, Japan, and Taiwan making up the rest of the top five. They are followed by several European countries: Finland, Estonia, Switzerland, and the Netherlands.
The five lowest-ranking countries are Ghana, South Africa, Honduras, Morocco, and Oman. Elsewhere, Germany is in 13th place, the UK 20th, and the US 28th.
The report, titled Universal Basic Skills: What Countries Stand To Gain, makes the case that while access to schools has improved in several countries, economic growth has not reached its full potential because pupils are not reaching an adequate standard of education. According to the report, the worst-performing country, Ghana, could increase its GDP by 3,881% if all its 15-year-olds achieved a basic level of education.
The report suggests that it is realistic to improve education standards relatively quickly: for example, Poland was able to reduce its share of underperforming students by a third within less than a decade.
The US’s relatively poor performance is highlighted as an indication that high income does not necessarily correspond to high educational attainment.
John Winters has written for IZA World of Labor on how countries benefit from higher levels of education. He writes that: “Research finds that increased average education levels in an area are correlated with higher earnings, even for locals with relatively little education. Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) graduates appear to have especially strong external effects, due to their role in stimulating innovation and economic growth.”
Read more on this story at BBC News. The full report can be accessed here.
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