Brussels, 25/06/2013 (Agence Europe) - Although spending per student remains slightly higher than the average, it is decreasing at every level of education in EU countries of the OECD, which is a bad sign if the necessary reforms are to be carried out successfully, the European Commission bemoans, with reference to the OECD report on “Education at a Glance 2013”, presented on 25 June. The report highlights another negative aspect occurring in the EU - the fall in teachers' pay, which will do little to promote staff renewal.
The OECD report analyses the educational systems of 34 OECD states, including 21 EU member states. It confirms the Commission's analysis whereby policies aimed at modernising European educational systems must be continued, and that it is necessary to give young people more possibilities to study and train abroad. Trends are as follows: 1) Expenditure on education per student is on a downward trend in most EU countries (€7,200 on average for the 21 EU member states). This remains slightly higher than the OECD average (€6,900). According to EU data, investment is very low in Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Romania and Slovakia, where there has been a decreasing trend in expenditure since 2008/2009; 2) On average, 15% of young people aged 15-29 were neither in employment nor in education and training (NEET) in 2011. This is a little better than the OECD average (16%). Nonetheless, the situation is critical in Greece, Ireland, Italy and Spain, where over 20% of young people were in this situation. EU figures show that this worsened in 2012 for the three southern European countries. In this context, the Commission points out how very important the Youth Guarantee is for the provision of specific training (apprenticeships and trainee courses); 3) EU countries have a considerably higher percentage of students taking part in vocational training at upper secondary education level than the OECD average. This rate varies a great deal from one country to the next. The percentage exceeds 70% in Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Finland and the Slovak Republic. On the other hand, it does not exceed 40% (the OECD average) in Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Portugal and the United Kingdom; 4) On average, teachers in EU countries earn between 77% and 89% of similarly educated full-time workers. Teachers' income fell by around 4% between 2009 and 2011, which could compromise the recruitment of a new generation of motivated teachers, the Commission states with regret; 5) Good gender distribution in tertiary education in 21 EU countries. Sixty per cent of qualified teachers on average are women. The percentage changes however according to the discipline taught: - in mathematics, science subjects and technology, the situation has evolved very little (42% of qualified women teachers). (IL/transl.jl)