On 24 November 2015, OECD published the 2015 Education at a Glance report measuring state of education worldwide. The report analyses the education systems of the 34 OECD member countries, as well as Argentina, Brazil, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, India, Indonesia, Latvia, Lithuania, the Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia and South Africa.

In the Czech Republic, the difference in employment rates between people who hold a tertiary qualification and those whose highest qualification is below upper secondary education is large, at least 30 percentage points. In Austria and Canada, about half of all tertiary-educated adults have a qualification from a short-cycle tertiary programme, while less than 1% of tertiary-educated adults in the Czech Republic and Poland hold such a qualification. In Austria, the Czech Republic, Italy, Poland, Portugal and the Slovak Republic, about 75% or more of tertiary-educated adults have a master’s or equivalent degree as their highest tertiary qualification. At least one in two adults in the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Poland and the Slovak Republic have vocational upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary qualifications as their highest level of attainment, the report states.

Also, the highest rates of good ICT and problem-solving skills among tertiary-educated adults are observed in the Netherlands (64%), Sweden (62%) and the Czech Republic (60%). In the Czech Republic, 41% of first generation tertiary-educated younger adults completed their degree in social sciences, business and law, the largest proportion among participating countries and sub-national entities.

The share of graduates who consider the education sector as highly innovative regarding at least one type of innovation is the smallest in the Czech Republic, France, Hungary and Portugal. Graduates working in the education sector in these four countries consider their own sector as less innovative than graduates working in other sectors of the economy.

All enrolments in doctoral or equivalent programmes in China, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and Switzerland are in public institutions. The Czech Republic had the largest proportion of foreign students (9%), more than 60% of international or foreign students came from neighbouring countries (74% of students come from the Slovak Republic). On average across OECD countries, since 2000, about one year has been added to the duration of formal education; in the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, the Slovak Republic and Turkey, two years or more have been added. In the Czech Republic, Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden, more than 25% of young adults study and work the same time, but less than 30% of them work 35 or more hours per week... Read the full report above and click on the press release.

Read also recent World Economic Forum article on education, skills and studying abroad.

Click also on the recent data published by the International Labour Organization.

View also outcomes of the 188th Žofín fórum: Technical education of the young ones - a new trend in our educational system? held on 2 November 2015.