EU investment for education and youth employability pays off, OECD report confirms

The European Commission today welcomed the launch of Education at a Glance 2013, an annual report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) which analyses the education systems of the 34 OECD member countries, including 21 EU Member States, as well as Argentina, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Russia, Saudi Arabia and South Africa.
The report identifies challenges for European education systems that must be tackled by the EU and its Member States working together, and confirms the importance of policies aimed at modernising education systems and increasing opportunities for young people to study or train abroad.
"This report is a major source of knowledge and evidence for policy-makers, helping to deepen our understanding of the challenges we face. Investing in education always pays off in the long run and Member States cannot afford to forget this when it comes to allocating public budgets. As the report confirms, cutting back on education spending in general, and on teachers' salaries in particular, can hinder our objective of providing efficient and high quality education systems," said Androulla Vassiliou, European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth. Read more...