A chance to design the way forward for education

This blog by Michael Ward of the OECD invites you to provide your views, on a set of indicators for measuring progress towards education targets for sustainable development, post 2015.

Want to get involved in shaping the future of education? As the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDG) reach their 2015 deadline, several international groups, including the OECD, are formulating a new set of goals and targets for sustainable development… and we’d like to know what you think.

The Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals (OWG), a UN-appointed task force, has proposed an agenda for development that includes goals for education, and educators from around the world have developed a set of specific education and learning targets that are closely aligned with that agenda.

The task now is to develop indicators so that progress towards achieving these new goals can be monitored.

To that end, a Technical Advisory Group, co-ordinated by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics and including members from the Education for All Global Monitoring Report, the OECD, UNESCO, UNICEF and the World Bank, has proposed a set of indicators, which you can find here.

We’d like to hear from you

What do you think about the indicators?

Until 30 January 2015 you are invited to comment on each indicator or to respond to these questions:

1. For each target, does the report identify the best indicators that are most aligned with the concept and are already being tracked in a large number of countries?

2. What new indicators could be developed to be more closely aligned with the proposed targets and have the potential to be globally comparable?

3. For each target, please identify or propose the two most important indicators.

4. Are there key issues that the document has not addressed satisfactorily or other issues that also need to be taken into consideration?

Please visit the UIS website for details on how to submit your comments.

To ensure that the consultation is open to as many people as possible, we invite you to spread the word among your networks and social media, referencing #Education2015.

After 30 January 2015, the Technical Advisory Group will review the list of indicators based on your feedback. The final proposal will be submitted for endorsement at the World Education Forum in Incheon (Korea) in May 2015. The final documents will then form the basis of the discussions at the UN General Assembly in September 2015 on the new UN goals for education.

Join the discussion on twitter via @EFAReport @UNESCO @WBEducation @OECD_Edu @UNICEFEducation and #Education2015.

by Michael Ward
Senior Policy Analyst, Development Co-operation Directorate

This post first appeared on the OECD Educationtoday blog site, here. 

Counting Pennies: A new PISA report compares students’ financial know-how

This blog is written by Wikichild co-ordinator Melinda Deleuze. The post presents findings from the latest PISA report, highlighting the links between students' financial literacy levels and their socio-economic background. It is a part of the Wikiprogress spotlight on Education and Skills.

The importance of financial literacy among young people is growing, as more adolescents have access to financial services, have their own bank accounts, make independent financial decisions, and are often in paid employment as well as school. More than ever, the ability of students to manage their finances is central to their immediate and future well-being. Furthermore, rising tuition costs, and the increasing burden of student debt, is a major issue in countries around the world. Earlier this year in Chile, an activist burnt student debt papers worth $500 million in protest of widespread student poverty. Financial literacy is therefore of key importance, not just at the individual level, in terms of enabling young people to avoid or minimise debt or to plan for a more financially-secure future, but also at the societal level.

Queen Maxima of the Netherlands
at the PISA launch

On Wednesday, the OECD launched Volume VI of the PISA 2012 results entitled “Students and Money: Financial Literacy Skills for the 21st Century.” This part of the PISA survey, the first ever cross-national evaluation of financial literacy among young people, involved 29,000 students from 18 countries. The 15 year-olds are asked questions with 5 different levels of questions, from recognising the purpose of an invoice (Level 1) to identifying which loan is the best offer.

(You can take the test here!)

Average scores in all participating countries

Across the 18 countries, students show a wide range of financial skills and knowledge. Shanghai-China students had the strongest performance with a mean score of 603 points, while Colombian students averaged the lowest mean score of 379 points. A majority of the countries are in a tighter point span, ranging from 520 to 480, such as the United States (492 points) and France (486 points). 

Distribution of differences in scores

However, even within countries students demonstrate varying levels of financial literacy. In New Zealand, the top 5% of students score around 700 score points, while the bottom 5% score around 300 points. This 400-point difference equates to about 10 years of schooling.

In addition to providing results on students’ financial literacy levels, the report also explores the relationships between financial literacy and other factors (including gender, rural vs. urban, immigration, mathematics performance, attitudes and socio-economic background). The relationship between socio-economic status and financial literacy comes across as especially important to acknowledge, as it shows a system’s ability to break vicious cycles of inequality and promote truly inclusive growth. In a successful system, students would obtain higher levels of financial literacy regardless of the parents’ level of education, income or wealth. Also, a system which does not rely on parents to transmit financial literacy has greater chances of reducing inequalities in household wealth in the long-term.

Across the 13 participating OECD countries, financial literacy performance increases by 41 score points with every one-unit increase in the PISA index of socio-economic status (ESCS). This score gap represents the equivalent to about one extra year of schooling for students who have above-average family wealth and additional educational resources at home The difference between the students in the top quarter and bottom quarter of socio-economic index amounts to 91 score points (over two years of schooling). A students’ socio-economic status, therefore, explains a large proportion of the variation in financial literacy in OECD countries, more so than gender or immigrant background. 

% variation explained by socio-economic status

Estonia appears to be the champion of breaking socio-economic boundaries in this field, with only a 53-point difference between the students in the top quarter and the bottom quarter of socio-economic status. It is the only country whose students overall have an above-average financial literacy performance, and that has a weak association between financial literacy performance and socio-economic status. It achieves high performance without leaving behind the disadvantaged students.  

Parents’ life decisions also impact students’ financial know-how. Both parents’ occupation and their level of education are strongly related to students’ financial literacy performance in the OECD countries. The financial literacy performance of students with at least one parent with tertiary education differs by an average of 40 score points in comparison to those whose parents do not have a higher education degree. Again, that corresponds to one year of schooling. There is a large range among the countries’ average differences, from Israel’s 79-point difference to Italy’s 9-point difference.

In all countries, the students with at least one parent in a skilled occupation, such as a manager or professional, have a higher financial literacy score than students whose parents work in semi-skilled or low-skilled occupations. The average difference in financial literacy performance between these student groups is 54 points. However, the variation among countries for parents’ occupation is not as stark as it is for parents’ education. Israel has a 75-point difference, while both Italy and the Russian Federation show the smallest differences with 34 points each. Overall, these results show that home-related factors do impact a student’s performance and financially literate parents could make a difference of a year of schooling.

Fortunately, governments are already taking this important issue to heart, with over 50 countries implementing a national strategy for financial education, compared to 10 countries in 2008. The next assessment of students’ financial literacy will to be taken in 2015, allowing for the first comparison of change over time. Fingers-crossed for more good examples like Estonia by then!

Melinda Deleuze 

*The graphs used in this post were presented at the report's launch on 9 July, 2014.

Invitation to join the Online Discussion on "Civil Society and Actions to Promote Well-being"

This post is an invitation to join the Wikiprogress Latin America online discussion on "Civil Society and Actions to Promote Well-being". You're invited to share your knowledge and experiences regarding well-being programmes in Latin America.

Civil Society and Actions to promote well-being

The OECD Mexico Centre, el Seminario Satisfacción Subjetiva con la Vida y la Sociedad (SAVISO)-UNAM-IIS, International Dialogue on Peacebuilding and Statebuilding, Alternativas y Capacidades A.C., Wikiprogress and Wikiprogress América Latina 

 invite you to join this online discussion

from 1 April 09:00 until 16 April 22:00 (GMT)

This discussion will be a unique opportunity to reflect and exchange best practices, research and experiences on the topic. 


Leading Questions:

• In Latin America, what community programmes and civil society activities are held in order to promote well-being?

• How is the impact of well-being programmes being evaluated?

• What factors and attributes contribute to the success of the programs identified?

• What are the main lessons learned from these programmes? What recommendations could be made ​​from these experiences?

• What are some obstacles faced in Latin America for the implementation and effectiveness of programmes that seek to promote well-being?

We invite you to leave your comments in Spanish, Portuguese, English or French in the section entitled “Contribuye” of the discussion webpage. To participate, click here. 

Here is the link to the page: http://bit.ly/1gl42wf and the hashtag in Twitter is #SociedadCivilYAcciones 

We will also be joining with the parallel event of the “International Dialogue on Peacebuilding and Statebuilding” held during the First High Level Meeting on Global Partnership for Effective Cooperation. Join the event and contribute!

1. How can civil society use the New Deal to hold governments accountable to citizens?
2. How can the New Deal Peace and state building goals (PSGs) be made applicable to middle income countries in Latin America?

If you would like to join the discussion use the hashtag #newdeal on Twitter.

For more information we invite you to contact us at:

Email: latam@wikiprogress.org

Blog: http://wikiprogressal.blogspot.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WikiprogressAmericaLatina

Twitter: https://twitter.com/WikiLATAM

What are the barriers for using Beyond-GDP indicators?

This blog, written by Dora Almassy, is about the current BRAINPOol project and the barriers the project has found in trying to establish alternative indicators beyond GDP. The post is a part of the Wikiprogress series on Data and Statistics.

The final conference of the BRAINPOol (Bringing Alternative Indicators into Policy) project takes place today, on 24th March 2014, in the premises of Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Conference Centre in Paris. (Click here for the event programme.) Given the increasingly important role of Beyond GDP indicators in the economic policy debate, the event aimed to catalyse the adoption of new measures of progress, bringing together representatives from the spheres of politics, academics and civil society. During the conference, the project’s key findings and recommendations were also presented. 

The BRAINPOol project, funded by the European Commission’s 7th Framework Programme, aims to summarise existing knowledge of alternative indicators and to promote their use in policy-making processes. In the framework of the project, Beyond-GDP indicators were first reviewed and categorised, then characterised by demand for these indicators.

Most recently, the BRAINPOol project published a report on barriers to the use of alternative indicators in policy-making and discussed how these barriers can be overcome. The barriers were identified by studying seven case studies, carried out for Germany (German National Welfare Index), the UK (British Business Bank and Welsh Government Sustainable Indicator Set), Midi-Pyrenees in France, Rotterdam (Sustainability Profile), Chrudim in the Czech Republic (Healthy City Indicators) and at the OECD. 

Barriers

From the case studies, twelve different types of barriers were identified and grouped under five categories: resources; resistance; communication; complexity; organisation. 

Resource constraints

Under this category, two main barriers were identified. Firstly, many countries, regions and cities face budget limitations when it comes to statistics and introducing alternative indicators. Secondly, data is not available in many cases, or it is limited to a certain timeframe or geographical coverage. 

Resistance

The project found a passive resistance to the use of alternative indicators in many of the studied areas, due to perceived norms, habits and risk aversion. For example, many policy-makers, who in theory would support the use of alternative indicators, take a more conservative view. This is due to the fact that the existing traditional models are considered more robust and well-established. As a result, Beyond-GDP indicators are often considered redundant by politicians and business organisations. 

Communication

Since there is no agreed practical consensus on Beyond-GDP indicators, the variety of options results in divergence or sometimes even in contrasting ideas. Thus, there is confusion about the concepts and terminologies used among different stakeholders. Sometimes, this also means that incorrect assumptions are associated with alternative indicators, from either politicians or businesses. In addition, the project found that a strong narrative for engaging the public is also often missing.

Complexity

The lack of a single Beyond-GDP indicator not only results in communication barriers,but also makes it difficult to replicate the simple headlines, which are currently linked to GDP measures. Similarly, while GDP indicators can offer a simple narrative, the variety of Beyond-GDP measures makes it more complicated to describe and analyse progress towards well-being.

Organisation

Lastly, several constraints were identified by the project in terms of institutional take-up. The potential users of alternative indicators are reluctant and sceptical in many cases. Due to the complexities of the well-being topic, interlinkages must be considered, inducing the need for working across departments and organisations. A lack of inter-institutional human capacity was also identified as a potential barrier. 

Overcoming the barriers

In order to overcome some of the aforementioned barriers, the BRAINPOol project suggests: to demonstrate how Beyond-GDP indicators can result in more informed policy choices; to promote these indicators at different fora; to develop a database of such indicators; to identify potential users and tailor the indicators to their needs; to develop facilitation mechanisms for internal and inter-organisational co-operation; and lastly, to invest in human resources.

The project also suggests that, first, two key barriers should be tackled head-on: We need to create a strong narrative for alternative indicators and new techniques for integrated policy analysis.

The full report is available at the project website: Barriers to the use of alternative (‘beyond GDP’) indicators in policy making and how they are being overcome and can be overcome 

- Dora Almassy

See Also:

BRAINPOol

Beyond GDP

Characterizing Demand for 'Beyond GDP'

Review report on Beyond GDP indicators: categorisation, intentions and impacts

Fighting the tide

This post by Kathleen Dominique from the OECD Environment Directorate is part of the Wikiprogress series on 'Water' and the 'Environment'. 

Preparing for the water-related impacts of climate change

Headlines of record‑breaking water-related disasters around the world – whether flood or drought – are a sign of things to come. As Lord Stern recently warned, the extreme weather events witnessed in many parts of the world reflect “a pattern of global change that it would be very unwise to ignore”. Recently, the UK and French floods have been in the news, but flooding is just one type of natural disaster and in fact, if you look at 2012 data from Munich Re, floods account for less than 13% of economic losses from natural hazards compared to 59% for storms and 16% for forest fires and droughts – hence the need to think broadly about water security.

© Dachalan, 2007

Water-related impacts are one of the main ways that we are seeing and feeling the effects of climate change. We can expect more torrential rains, floods and droughts in many areas. Events that were once considered “exceptional circumstances” are now becoming commonplace.

The cost of impacts of these events can be substantial and are set to rise in the future. According to data gathered in a recent OECD survey on water and climate change adaptation, flood risk is projected to increase significantly across the UK. Annual damage to UK properties due to flooding from rivers and the sea currently totals around GBP 1.3 billion. For England and Wales alone, the figure is projected to rise to between GBP 2.1 billion and GBP 12 billion by the 2080s, based on future population growth and if no adaptive action is taken.

A recent OECD review of actions governments are taking to prepare for water-related impacts of climate change found that nearly all OECD countries ranked extreme events (floods and droughts) among their primary concerns. This comprehensive review of policies for water and climate change adaptation is one way that the OECD has been tracking progress on preparing for a more risky and more uncertain future.

At the OECD, we recommend governments undertake a robust assessment of risks – and that’s somewhere we’re seeing progress. In fact, it’s one of the most active areas of climate change adaptation in OECD countries. This is positive – but this evidence base then needs to spur action. Governments need to determine what is an “acceptable level” of risk by balancing the benefits and costs of taking pre-emptive action. On the one hand, nobody wants to have their property flooded, but on the other, completely eliminating flood risk is often not possible and a high-level of protection is very costly. Once an acceptable level of risk has been set, governments need to explore the options open to them, and that includes sharing responsibility between the public and private sectors when investing in infrastructure, devising insurance schemes, as well as in emergency response.  

As we expect to see more severe weather events around the world, we need to understand that anticipation can avoid future costs. For example, the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre estimates that EUR 1 invested in flood protection can result in EUR 6 of avoided damage costs. Investments in early warning systems and emergency preparedness have significantly reduced casualties in Hurricane-prone countries. Austria and Germany made smart investments in flood defences after floods in 2002, and that served them well when water levels rose again last year.

However, sometimes avoiding risks altogether is cheaper than building infrastructure to protect against them. Protection measures are not only about building hard infrastructure but we can use innovative architecture and landscape solutions – such as “green roofs”, “blue belts” or restored wetlands – so that nature is part of the solution.

That said, since we can’t predict the exact timing or magnitude of weather events, it’s very hard to get the timing and investment level right when taking preventative action. At a time when many governments are working under tight budget constraints, it’s even more vital that investments are well-thought out. The most cost-effective approaches to climate change adaptation are the most flexible and forward-looking ones, and the OECD has recommended a range of policy tools and investment approaches. This includes infrastructure design and financing techniques that can be scaled up or down over time, as needed. 

To see what OECD countries are doing to help prepare, check out www.oecd.org/env/resources/waterandclimatechange.htm

What’s at the root of women’s absence in STEM occupations?

This blog was written by Marilyn Achiron, the editor for the OECD's Directorate for Education and Skills. Despite genuine and enormous progress in education and the labour force over the past few decades, women are still under-represented in the fields of technology, mathematics and science and in high-wage occupations. Why? This blog is part of the OECD's contribution to celebrate International Women's Day.

If you sift through all the education data the OECD has produced over the past year, you’ll come up with decidedly mixed results when it comes to women’s (and girls’) progress. Education at a Glance 2013 told us that gender gaps in educational attainment are not only narrowing, but are, in some cases, reversing, and that women are now more likely than men to enter and complete a university-level programme. Results from the first Survey of Adult Skills, a product of the OECD Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC), found that gender differences in the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) have narrowed considerably among 16-24 year-olds, and that, among younger adults, there is, on average, no gender difference in proficiency in numeracy or literacy. In fact, in those countries where there is a difference between young men’s and young women’s levels of literacy, it is young women who score higher.

So, given these data, we have reason to be optimistic.

Unfortunately, this is only part of the story; there are also some other data to consider: Education at a Glance revealed that, among tertiary-educated adults, women still earn less than men (only in Austria, Belgium, Finland, New Zealand, Slovenia and Spain do the earnings of tertiary-educated women amount to 75% or more of men’s earnings; in Brazil, Chile and Estonia, university-educated women earn 65% or less of what similarly educated men earn). What might explain these gender-related disparities in pay?

As the publication also reported, women are still less likely than men to work full time; and 15-29 year-old women are twice as likely as men the same age to be neither in the labour force nor looking for a job. Meanwhile, the Survey of Adult Skills found that in all countries that participated in the survey, similar proportions of men (36%) as women (32%) are proficient in using ICTs. But the survey also found that in 15 of 23 participating countries, men use ICT at work significantly more often than women do – and that the extent to which problem-solving skills are used at work accounts for nearly half the gender gap in wages.

One of the most troubling of findings comes from the PISA 2012 survey of 15-year-old students. Based on information gathered from students through questionnaires, PISA found that, even among the highest-achieving girls (many of whom perform just as well as boys in mathematics), girls have self-sabotaging attitudes towards mathematics. They are more likely to feel anxious towards mathematics, and have less confidence in their own mathematical skills and in their ability to solve mathematics problems than boys.

These attitudes have repercussions later on, as can be seen in other data from Education at a Glance. That publication reports that, in 2011, an average of only 14% of women entering university-level education enrolled in science-related fields (which include science and engineering) or in manufacturing and construction, compared to 39% of men who entered this level of education in these fields. If so few women aim for the so-called STEM professions (science, technology, engineering and mathematics), there will continue to be few role models in these fields for young girls to emulate, and the cycle will simply perpetuate itself.

What all these data, combined, tell us is that we have no reason to be complacent. The gender gap in students’ self-beliefs about their abilities in mathematics has remained stable in most countries since 2003. In the short term, changing these mindsets may require making mathematics more interesting to girls, identifying and eliminating gender stereotypes in textbooks, promoting female role models, and using learning materials that appeal to girls. Over the longer term, shrinking the gender gap in mathematics performance will require the concerted effort of parents, teachers and society, as a whole, to change the clichéd notions of what boys and girls excel at, what they enjoy doing, and what they believe they can achieve.

Girls and women have made genuine and enormous gains in education and in the labour force over the past half century; but as long as girls continue to tell themselves that they’re no good at math – or science or engineering or any other subject where men have traditionally dominated – even in the face of hard evidence to the contrary, then we’re still losing half of our talent to the destructive power of stereotypes.

- Marilyn Achiron

For related blogs on education see the OECD's educationtoday blog.


See Also:
Education at a Glance 2012
Gender Equality in Education, Employment and Entrepreneurship
Education
Education and Skills Category
 

Child Well-being in 2013

Wikichild just wrapped up another exciting year in 2013, and we decided to kick off this year with highlights of the most popular blogs, events, reports and articles in 2013 regarding child well-being - Enjoy!

Top PROG BLOGS about child well-being

"Youth Unemployment and the OECD's Action Plan" on youth unemployment in Europe and the OECD Action Plan for Youth, which proposes how to tackle the issue.

"The U.S. versus the rich world in child well-being" is a comparison between the recently published 2013 KIDS COUNT Data Book on America's child well-being with UNICEF's 11th Report card on rich countries' child well-being.

"Schools tackling obesity and malnutrition" Discusses what schools can do to tackle childhood obesity by establishing a healthier diet, increasing activity and educating about food and nutrition.

"FGM: the Dynamics of Change" provides a summary of the UNICEF report entitled “Female genital mutilation/cutting: a statistical overview and exploration of the dynamics of change.” 

"Abstinence doesn’t do the trick" discusses the negative impact that adolescent pregnancies can have on the child, the mother and all of society.

 

Top REPORTS about child well-being in 2013

UNICEF Report Card 11: Child well-being in rich countries 

Marking progress against child labour: Global estimates andtrends 2000-2012

Global Employment Trends for Youth 2013

Marrying too Young

PISA 2012 Results

Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting: A statistical overviewand the dynamics of change

The Good Childhood Report 2013

HBSC 30th Anniversary Summary Report

Global Report: UNAIDS report on the global AIDS epidemic 2013

 

 

 

 

Top ARTICLES about child well-being in 2013

Child well-being definitions

Children and malnutrition

Effects of Migration on Child well-being

Under-Five Mortality Rate

Child Subjective Well-being

UNICEF Child Well-being measure

Top EVENTS about child well-being in 2013

Day of the African Child 16 June

HBSC 30th Anniversary Meeting 18-19 June

World Teachers Day 5 October

World Toilet Day 19 November

World Day against Child Labour 6 December 


Also, to see what happened in the NEWS regarding child well-being,
check out the Wikichild MEDIA REVIEW.

 - Melinda George
Wikichild Co-ordinator