Review education policies
Examine the OECD's extensive research and analysis of education policy around the world. Get a quick overview of key insights and policy options for a wide range of topics in education. Or delve deeper into the OECD knowledge base through quick and easy access to related websites and publications.
Education is complex. Policies and practices, as well as inputs, processes and outcomes, stand in a dynamic relationship with each other. Explore how different topics can be related through a visual network of education policy.
The OECD Education GPS is under constant development and the available information is continually growing. Come back soon!
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Equity
Fair and inclusive education is desirable for a number of reasons. Everyone has a human right to develop their capacities and to participate fully in society. Education and the skills and knowledge it provides also strongly influence one's life chances, employment opportunities and wages, and health, as well as one's future contribution to society and the economy. A lack of inclusion and fairness may also lead to retention and/or school dropout, both of which have high economic and social costs. Furthermore, education plays an important role for general patterns of social and income inequality and mobility. For all these reasons, improving equity in education is a high priority in all OECD countries. Indeed, investing in equity pays off and equity in education goes hand in hand with quality and efficiency. More
Organisation & Governance
Governments in every country set up the overall framework that shapes their education system and defines its operation. They determine the organisation and structure of the system, who is allowed to provide compulsory education, what choices of schools are available to parents and students, what mechanisms are in place to finance education, its overall goals, as well as the standards by which providers are held accountable. More
Trends shaping education
Underlying a host of recent political, economic and demographic transformations across the world is the recognition of their global scale. Thanks to technological advances, decreasing transportation costs, international agreements, and integration of markets, people, goods and services travel more easily than ever bringing to societies both, increased diversity, but also a growing uniformity of experiences and challenges. Migration, climate change, interdependency of financial markets, urbanisation, changes in family configurations, ageing societies, increasing public spending, and growing inequalities are just some of the current trends faced by governments around the world. Many of such deep transformations require not only local, but also global solutions. Education systems are certainly influenced by these trends, but they also have the power to affect them. More
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Title
Glossary
| OECD Glossary of Statistical Terms |
| Glossary of OECD Education at a Glance |
| International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED) |
Note
The development of education policies always needs to take into account country-specific traditions and features of respective education systems. Not all policy options are equally relevant for different countries, different contexts give rise to different priorities. In some countries, policy suggestions may already be in place; in others, they may have less relevance owing to specific social, economic and educational structures and traditions. Policy options rather distil potentially useful ideas and lessons from the experiences of countries that have been searching for ways to improve their education system. As policy options are removed from their wider analytical context, it is strongly advised that readers should refer back to the original OECD source for the fuller picture.