1. University Community and EFA
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
University Community and EFA
4 November 2004
The OECD groups 30 member countries in a unique forum to discuss, develop and refine economic and social policies. They compare experiences , seek answers to common problems and work to coordinate domestic and international policies to help members and non-members deal with an increasingly globalised world. Their exchanges may lead to agreements to act in a formal way, for example by establishing legally binding agreements to crack down on bribery. The OECD is also known for “soft law”, non binding instruments on issues such as guidelines in a specific area.
Over time the OECD’s focus has broadened to include extensive contacts with non-member economies, and it now maintains cooperative relations with some 70 of them.
Jacqueline Smith

2. OECD strategic objectives
Domestic agenda
Promote Economic Growth, Financial Stability and Structural Adjustment
Provide Employment Opportunities for All, Improve Human Capital and Social Cohesion and Promote a Sustainable Environment
Enhance Public and Private Sector Governance
International agenda
Contribute to the Development of Non-Member Economies
Contribute to Shaping Globalisation for the Benefit of All through the Expansion of Trade and Investment
The OECD groups 30 member countries in a unique forum to discuss, develop and refine economic and social policies. They compare experiences, seek answers to common problems and work to coordinate domestic and international policies to help members and non members deal with an increasingly globalised world.
Their exchanges may lead to agreements to act in a formal way – for example by establishing legally binding agreements to crack down on bribery.
The OECD is also known for « soft law », non binding instruments such as guidelines.
Overtime the OECD’s focus has broadened to include extensive contacts with non-member economies and it now maintains relations with more than 70 of them.

3. Education and Training Policy Indicators and Analysis
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Directorate for Education
Education and Training Policy
Indicators and Analysis
Education Management and Infrastructure
Centre for Education Research and Innovation
Programme for Co-operation with Non-Member Economies
As Barry McGaw, Director for Education stated “Contemporary societies demand high levels of knowledge and skills. Individuals without them have difficulty in participating effectively in social and economic life, so equity in education is as much a concern as quality. The OECD’s work on education uses a lifelong perspective, shifts the focus from teaching to learning and connects education policy with economic and other social policies.”
As the focus broadens, the cooperation with no-member economies expands. In education the number of reviews of national education policies has increased significantly over the past decade, as has the number of partnership

4. Education Directorate’s Strategic Objectives
Connecting lifelong learning policy with other socio-economic policies.
Evaluating and improving outcomes of education.
Promoting quality teaching.
Rethinking tertiary education in a global economy.
Building social cohesion through education.
Building new futures for education.
Connecting life long learning:
Thematic Review of Early Childhood Education and Care Policy
Thematic Review of Adult Learning
Evaluating and improving outcomes of education
- education policy reviews, in member and non member countries, for example:
“Review of Financing and Quality Assurance Reforms in Higher Education in the People’s Republic of China”,
the thematic review of the first years of Tertiary education
The Programme on International Student Assessment – PISA
Promoting Quality Teaching
“Teachers Matter: Attracting, Developing and Retaining Effective Teachers
Rethinking tertiary education in a global economy
Activities of the Programme on institutional management in higher education
Draft UNESCO/OECD Guidelines on quality provision in cross-border higher education

5. More people are completing tertiary education than ever before…
…in some countries, growth has been spectacular…
…but others have fallen behind.

6. Completion of tertiary-type A education
There are no internationally comparable data on trends in the levels of enrolment in tertiary education but a picture for past decades can be obtained, using as a proxy the percentages of the population in different age brackets who have completed particular levels.
The figure above shows the data for completion rates in tertiary education Type A.
The percentage of year-olds who have completed this level of education provides an indication of completion rates years ago. The picture is only approximate, of course, because some will have completed that level as adults, long after having left initial education, and also because some of the population will not have survived to this age-group.
Successively younger groups can provide similar pictures of upper secondary completion rates in more recent decades. They are typically higher. In the figure, they are shown as the increment that they add to the completion rate for the people 10 years older.
Completion rates have changed quite differently across countries. South Korea rose from equal 16th to equal 3rd, the UK declined marginally from equal 7th to equal 9th and the Czech Republic declined from 15th to equal 25th.
For countries ranking at the top level, the gap between older and younger is about 13 points.
Only three countries have remained stable, at high level, for the last decades: Australia, Sweden, and the United States.
For all tertiary education the average level of attainment in OECD countries increased from 21 % to 28 % when comparing individuals aged 50 to those age 30.
Source: OECD (2004) Education at a Glance: OECD Indicators 2004, Table A3.3, p.71.

7. Benefits of Education Higher employment rates…
Higher earnings for individuals…

8. Relative average earnings of 30-44 year-olds
Upper secondary and post secondary non-tertiary = 100
In Hungary, males with a tertiary qualification earn, on average, 153% more than males who completed only upper secondary education.
In half the countries, the advantage of tertiary over upper secondary education is greater for women than men.
In Portugal, males without upper secondary education earn 57% of those with it
Source: OECD (2004) Education at a Glance: OECD Indicators 2004, Table A11.1a, p.175.

9. Increased productivity and economic growth for countries.

10. Consider South Korea 1960s Beginning of 21st Century Wealth
Below all South American countries. Around level of Afghanistan.
20th in OECD.
Educational expenditure
1st in OECD in % of GDP.
Educational attainment
completing secondary – 24th in OECD. completing tertiary – 20th in OECD.
completing secondary – 1st in OECD. completing tertiary – 3rd in OECD.
Educational quality
4th in reading, 1st in mathematics 1st in science in OECD.
Educational equity
1st in OECD.

11. Monitoring internationalisation and trade in tertiary education

12. Analyse trends and challenges in cross-border higher education
Size and growth
Policy initiatives and different approaches
Possible impact of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS)
Main policy challenges
Awareness raising through series of Forums
11-12 October 2004, Sydney
UNESCO/OECD Guidelines on quality provision in cross-border higher education
New forms of cross-border provision is growing.
Different approaches to cross-border higher education exist:
mutual understanding; we often hear about migration of graduate students to mostly OECD developed countries, but another range of students, at undergraduate level migrate to developing countries. No statistics are available, but surely programmes could be developed with sending countries to encourage this form of mobility.
skilled migration, with the risk of brain drain, and the chance of gain not only for receiving countries but also for sending countries when they can attract their skilled workers back;
revenue generation;
and capacity building, to develop HE offer in some countries with limited possibilities at the moment.
Role of GATS in the growth of cross-border higher education is so far very limited.
Policy challenges:
Quality and recognition
Access and equity
Financing and cost
Capacity building
Policy coherence

13. UNESCO/OECD Guidelines on quality provision in cross-border higher education
One main policy area which countries agreed to tackle
Educational response
Student protection from low-quality provision
Legally non-binding instrument to co-ordinate and strengthen existing initiatives
Collaboration with UNESCO gives a global range
Second drafting meeting: October 2004, Tokyo

14. Programme on Institutional Management in Higher Education - IMHE
Improving higher education by providing strategic analysis on institutional development in the context of national policy and global trends

15. Key IMHE activities Research management Governance and finance of HEIs
HEIs and regional development
Building capacity in institutions
Developing the knowledge base

16. Thank you