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The Worldwide Educating for the Future Index
A benchmark for the skills of tomorrow
Contents
Executive summary 4
Introduction: on educating for the future, the world must try harder 8
Chapter 3. Open societies will be better prepared for a rapidly changing future 28
Box IV. A comparison between the index and PISA: inputs versus outputs 32
Executive summary
The rapid development of digital technology collaboration and awareness of global which nearly all economies in the index political backdrops are insular, repressive and
and the globalised nature of economic systems concerns like climate change. Yet only 17 show support for to some extent, are good hostile to new ideas. In general, economies
are creating an entirely new set of educational out of the 35 economies indexed offer any conduits for this. The index also indicates with liberal economic and social traditions
challenges for the world to adapt to. The kind of assessment framework to test global that governments are involving the business perform better in the index.
workers of the future will need to master a suite citizenship skills, and only 15 evaluate community in their education systems:
of adaptable interpersonal, problem-solving project-based learning to some degree. all but three economies show some level
and critical-thinking skills, and navigate an of university-industry collaboration.
increasingly digital and automated world. 3. Policy needs to be complemented by a
This paper presents the results of the first pool of talented teachers well-equipped 5. Pay for teachers and adequate funding
Worldwide Educating for the Future Index , which to guide students in gaining future skills. for education are important, but money
was created to evaluate the extent to which is not a panacea.
education systems inculcate such future skills. An effective system must be built on
The main findings are: resourceful and highly capable teachers, There is a link between monetary inputs to
who are willing and able to tackle the education systems and success in the index.
1. Too many governments are not doing challenges of preparing students for an Our research suggests that governments could
enough to prepare millions of young people ever-evolving and complex future. The index stand to devote more resources to cultivating
for seismic changes in work and life. suggests that important strides are already teaching in particular, raising the salaries,
being taken in this area: in most markets, profile and prestige of the profession.
Millions of young people are not being taught teaching modules stress the importance of Though simply boosting budgets is not an
effective and relevant skills, leaving them future skills to at least some extent. Teacher all-encompassing solution, it can show to
unprepared for the complex challenges of training is also a particular bright spot: what extent education is a priority for
the 21st century. The performance of various nearly half of the economies surveyed policymakers with limited resources. Some
economies in the index indicates substantial demand teachers hold bachelors degrees lower-income economies, for example,
room for improvement. Although in general, in teaching, and all require at least a spend a far higher share of their GDP on
richer economies do better, many struggle to university education. education than rich ones.
beat the average, suggesting that more can
and should be done. 4. Classroom walls must be broken down. 6. A holistic and future-ready education
system is inextricably linked with
2. Crucial areas such as project-based Education must not stop when students step societal openness and tolerance.
learning and global citizenship are out of the classroom. Teachers and parents
being widely ignored. need to equip them with the skills and The index results also rely on broader
attitudes to apply academic concepts to societal attitudes, including those toward
It is not enough to simply teach traditional the outside world. They must see learning cultural diversity, the treatment of women
subjects well. Education systems need to as an organic process, not one confined and freedom of information. Education
adopt new approaches that help students to traditional teaching environments. systems cannot be expected to address next-
learn skills such as critical thinking, Study abroad programmes, for example, generation global challenges if their socio-
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expectancy at birth is projected to rise to 77 skills. The index has been developed to help
years, from 71 years in 2010-2015,1 while answer this question, and highlight where
the worlds urban population is expected to systems are getting it right and where they are
comprise 66% of the total, up from 55% today.2 failing. Indeed, there are a number of prominent
disappointments. Taiwan, for example, despite
This preparation for the future will involve a reputation for strong teaching in the science, List of economies
students acquiring a raft of specific skills technology, engineering and math (STEM)
Best environment Good environment Moderate environment Needs improvement
that may help them deal with this changing subjects, ranks only 19th, while Israel, the so-
world. Education will be less about learning called start-up nation, also underperforms, 1. New Zealand 88.9 10. Germany 75.3 18. Italy 65.2 27. Russia 44.1
information and more about analysing and coming in at 26th. 2. Canada 86.7 11. France 72.7 19. Taiwan 64.6 28. Vietnam 42.0
3. Finland 85.5 12. South Korea 71.7 20. Argentina 62.8 29. India 41.0
using information. Content knowledge is
4. Switzerland 81.5 12. United States 71.7 21. Mexico 61.2 30. Saudi Arabia 37.3
becoming a commodity, notes Tony Wagner
of Harvard University. The world no longer Putting policy first 5. Singapore 80.1
6. United Kingdom 79.5
14. Hong Kong
15. Chile
68.5
67.5
22. Brazil
23. South Africa
55.2
54.3
31. China
32. Nigeria
32.9
31.2
cares about what students know, but what
7. Japan 77.2 16. Spain 67.3 24. Turkey 51.0 33. Egypt 28.0
they can do with what they know. To this end, The first domain evaluated in the index is a given 8. Australia 77.1 17. Poland 67.2 25. Philippines 50.2 34. Indonesia 27.9
we have identified the following types of skills economys policy environmentparticularly the 9. Netherlands 76.2 26. Israel 46.7 35. Iran 23.5
current students will need to flourish in the extent to which it prioritises skills for the future
world as adults: in education guidelines and action points. Only
1 World Population Prospects: The 2017 Revision, UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs Population Division (2017),
https://esa.un.org/unpd/wpp/Publications/Files/WPP2017_KeyFindings.pdf
2 World Urbanization Prospects: The 2014 Revision, UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs Population Division (2015),
https://esa.un.org/unpd/wup/Publications/Files/WUP2014-Report.pdf, and data available at https://esa.un.org/unpd/wup/DataQuery/
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Canada, South Korea and the United Kingdom The indexs call to action is not just for teachers In part, this question also reflects how important develop these skills, youre in competition from
earn top marks in the comprehensiveness of a inside classrooms, however: preparing the young it is for an education system to produce citizens systems that do. The index provides both a
strategy targeting future skills. Of these places, for these challenges needs involvement from able to contribute to wider society, for instance wake-up call for education systems, and pointers
only Canada also gets top marks for the existence business and industry. This helps the system through their understanding of free speech, towards concrete steps that will help those
of a curriculum framework to support this. recognise the demands and requirements of the inequality, energy politics and environmental systems cope with the challenges of a complex
labour market, as well as provide opportunities change. Educating students with attitudes that and very different future.
The index highlights a widespread need for for students to learn how to apply their education make them aware of and able to contribute to
holistic educational techniques such as project- in the real world. Andreas Schleicher of the OECD particular societies has long been an integral
based learning, where students grapple with a argues that classrooms need to be integrated part of education systems; the index, through
subject (often of their own choosing) in great with the outside world, and warns that school metrics such as the inclusion of global citizenship
depth and with reference to several academic is too isolated from the rest of our societies. the in curriculum guidelines and the capacity to
disciplines. Lord David Willetts, a former UK index shows that most economies are developing assess them, throws the net wider, beyond
Universities and Science Minister, says that frameworks to counter this problem, although national and regional boundaries.
this deep engagement helps students develop some, such as Egypt, Indonesia and Iran, are Unfortunately, half of the systems evaluated
many important soft skills, compared to failing to do so. in the index fail the assessment aspect of
traditional learning methods. David Deming of this completely.
Harvard University says that classrooms need
to be more project-based, interactive, with School is too isolated from In highlighting these three broad domains,
more peer-to-peer learning, group work and the rest of our societies. The index is aimed at making education systems
portfolio assessments. Some index economies ANDREAS SCHLEICHER, OECD
more relevant and effective in a high-skills
Argentina, Canada, Finland, France, Hong information age with more demanding labour
Kong, Mexico, New Zealand, Spain and Taiwan in markets. If they fail to adapt then they will
particularoffer a robust focus on project-based fail millions of young people. Other studies
learning, though of these nine, only Finland Social studies already highlight alarming skill gaps: one OECD
and France also provide strong assessment study found that almost a fifth of adults have
frameworks to test such learning. Finally, the index evaluates a given economys poor reading skills; almost a quarter have poor
broader socio-economic backdrop. In part this is numeracy skills; a quarter have limited computer
through economy-wide metrics such as gender experience and confidence; and just under
The teaching imperative diversity, cultural diversity and tolerance, half have only very basic computer proficiency.3
and the extent to which there is a free press. Without these core skills, and the suite of
Second, the index evaluates teaching This recognises the importance of a societys softer skills demanded by information-age
environments. High quality teachers have the openness in equipping its young with an open, working environments, younger generations
ability, flexibility and motivation to deal with the inquisitive and critical mind that is exposed to will fail to develop productive working lives,
challenges of an effective future-skills education. different attitudes and arguments. The increasing with severe implications for their wider
The index assesses inputs such as the quality of premium on creative and critical faculties and economies. Tertiary education and employment
teacher education and its relevance to future skills, entrepreneurship implies that those who are are increasingly globalised, explains Catherine
the qualifications needed to enter the profession, encouraged to develop independent thought while Whitaker of EtonX, a UK-based company that
and average teacher salaries, thereby suggesting being willing to take risks will flourish more than provides soft-skills education to Chinese schools.
concrete areas that policymakers can target. those from rigid or controlled societies. If youre coming from a system which doesnt
3 Skills Matter: Further Results from the Survey of Adult Skills, OECD (2016), http://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/docserver/download/8716011e.pdf
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Making education systems fit for purpose for relevance of textbooks toward future skills. Positive
future skills starts with governments, which surprises in these categories include Russia, which Worldwide Educating for the Future Index results: education policy environment
have the most control over important variables earns full marks for the two aforementioned areas. (scores out of 100)
such as overall strategy and curriculum design.
However, as Linda Darling-Hammond of Stanford Assessment systems are particularly hard to reform.
University points out, many governments have Mr Schleicher notes that high-stakes exams,
paid lip service to the need for better future-skills particularly in East Asia, have helped drive high
education without taking the necessary steps to performance and provide clear signals of ability to
make it happen: Theres a lot of hand-waving employers and higher education systems. However,
and rhetoric around these 21st century skills, they only measure a far narrower range of traditional
but very few governments actually appreciate performance than in a future-skills framework
Hong Kong
what that means for the nature of schooling and involving project-based learning. Reforming such
redesigning the systems we currently have. a system that is widely seen as delivering results
is politically difficult, and would need to involve
Singapore
stakeholders such as employers and universities
as well as parents and the students themselves.
Theres a lot of hand-waving and rhetoric Mr Wagner argues that if assessment systems fail
around these 21st century skills, but very to reflect the future skills that employers demand
they will lose credibility naturally. On this, France
few governments actually appreciate what
and Finland are ahead of the curve with top index List of economies
that means for the nature of schooling and marks for the project-based learning focus of their
Best environment Good environment Moderate environment Needs improvement
redesigning the systems we currently have. assessment frameworks; the Netherlands and South
1. Singapore 88.8 10. Switzerland 69.2 18. Argentina 57.4 27. China 43.8
LINDA DARLING-HAMMOND, STANFORD UNIVERSITY Korea could greatly improve their scores by paying
2. New Zealand 87.5 11. Netherlands 69.1 19. Brazil 56.8 28. Saudi Arabia 43.3
more attention to this area.
3. Canada 87.0 12. Japan 68.8 20. Russia 56.3 29. Israel 39.6
4. Finland 85.3 13. Poland 65.6 21. Spain 55.2 30. India 37.9
The other key challenge for governments and 5. United Kingdom 78.3 14. Chile 65.5 22. Hong Kong 54.8 31. Philippines 33.6
A strategic approach to educating for future skills policymakers is implementation. The index 6. South Korea 73.7 15. Germany 63.4 23. Italy 51.4 32. Indonesia 31.6
that resists short-term demands from politicians demonstrates a fair relationship between overall 7. Taiwan 71.8 16. United States 63.3 24. Mexico 48.5 33. Egypt 29.6
should include elements such as curriculum score and the effectiveness of implementing 8. France 70.2 17. South Africa 60.8 25. Vietnam 47.1 34. Nigeria 23.7
and assessment frameworks which specifically policy: high performers such as New Zealand, 9. Australia 69.3 26. Turkey 44.3 35. Iran 18.9
include future skills. Only Finland has perfect Canada, Finland and Switzerland all do notably
index scores for both, while the US is a surprising well, while Italys overall score is dragged down by
underperformer, lagging in areas such as presence an implementation score similar to the Philippines
of global citizenship in curriculum guidelines and and Saudi Arabia.
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4 Grunderna fr gymnasiets lroplan 2015, Finnish National Agency for Education (2015), http://www.oph.fi/download/174853_grunderna_for_
gymnasiets_laroplan_2015.pdf
5 Propuesta curriculuar para la educacin obligatoria, Mexico Secretariat of Public Education (2016), https://www.gob.mx/cms/uploads/docs/Propuesta-
Curricular-baja.pdf
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counselling in schools, collaboration best practice, she says. As part of this aim,
between universities and industry, and she has led the formation of around 200
cultural diversity and tolerance. clusters of interconnected schools called
communities of learning.
The reasons behind this success are twofold. Overall teaching environment (1st)
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scores only as well as Vietnam, China, Egypt and teaching is more highly valued by families
Iran for the qualifications needed to enter the and parents. Two decades ago this
teaching profession, suggesting a clear path to
wasnt the case. Pay is important.
improvement which may revolve around making
these qualifications more stringent.
The substantive quality of teachers as
List of economies
observed by the public is important.
Best environment Good environment Moderate environment Needs improvement
DAVID HUNG, NATIONAL INSTITUTE
Money matters OF EDUCATION, SINGAPORE 1. New Zealand 88.4 10. Australia 78.0 18. Poland 67.3 27. India 44.6
2. Canada 87.1 11. Netherlands 77.2 19. Chile 66.5 28. South Africa 44.2
The index highlights a less clear correlation 2. Switzerland 87.1 12. France 77.0 20. Turkey 63.4 29. Saudi Arabia 42.3
between overall performance and teachers Beyond simply looking at teachers salaries, the 4. Japan 86.9 13. United Kingdom 76.9 21. Argentina 62.1 30. Nigeria 37.4
5. South Korea 82.0 14. United States 76.1 22. Philippines 59.7 31. Russia 36.5
salaries. Germany and Japan score by far the index includes broader government expenditure
6. Hong Kong 80.7 15. Italy 72.8 23. Taiwan 57.4 32. Iran 29.1
highest for teacher pay (with Turkey, Hong Kong on secondary education as well. Mr Sahlberg
7. Finland 80.0 16. Mexico 70.1 24. Israel 51.4 33. Egypt 28.4
and Korea also notably high), far outstripping argues that the resources, the funding, the
8. Singapore 78.7 17. Spain 69.5 25. Brazil 47.8 34. China 26.2
their overall placings of sixth and tenth. New money that is invested in a system is directly
9. Germany 78.5 26. Vietnam 46.1 35. Indonesia 22.4
Zealand and Canada rank first and second on related to what you get out. The share of its
the index despite having only the 19th and resources a country spends on education can help
17th highest teacher salaries, respectively. Pasi observers understand to what extent education
Sahlberg of Open Society Foundations says that is prioritised and seen as a valuable investment.
raising the professional and societal status of Here, many lower-income economies are
teachers, as they have done in Finland, is a better standout performers. Brazil, Turkey and Vietnam,
path to more effective teaching than simply for example, all rank in the top ten.
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Still, poorer economies that spend a higher able are still stimulated. However, competency-
To teach or not to teach
share of GDP on education are still likely based learning is vital for future-skills
Average high school teacher salary, all indexed economies
spending less in absolute terms (especially education as it gives students of all abilities an
(US$ by purchasing power parity, 2017)
per pupil) than richer, smaller ones, even understanding of core literacies such as maths,
those near the bottom. Though experts science and language. They can then use them 0 10,000 20,000 30,000 40,000 50,000 60,000 70,000 80,000
caution that money alone is not a cure-all, as the foundation for further learning, for
1 Germany
some rich economies like Switzerland and instance in project-based work or the creative
2 Japan
Canada may want to rethink their national use of technology. 3 South Korea
priorities and put more resources in this area. 4 Hong Kong
Excellent teachers also provide the most 5 United Kingdom
and demanding, as teachers must be able to need to do more to create opportunities in this
respond to differing needs, for instance helping regard. The UK, Germany and Singapore could
less-able students while making sure the most also all improve further in this area.
Source: The Economist Intelligence Unit
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Box II. Argentina: starting on the path to reform Dancing the reform tango
Argentina, index scores (out of 100)
Reforming an education system to prioritise areas of interest, fields of expertise many, Overall score (20th)
the learning of future skills is not just the many more times than our parents did. 100
that will disrupt work and life in future for a middle-income economy.6 It ranks 40 Average across
middle-income economies
decades, such as automation and robotics, 20th, beaten in Latin America only by Chile. 20
Overall socio-economic Overall policy
will also affect middle-income and developing It is showing real signs of progress in areas environment (12th) environment (18th)
economies. As you go to a more knowledge- such as quality of teacher education and
based economy, people have to think on their qualifications, education expenditure, and
own much more, says Mr Schleicher. curriculum and assessment frameworks
supporting skills for the future. Elsewhere it
This is an insight that is informing Argentinas performs poorly, for instance ranking second- Overall teaching environment (21st)
attempts to overhaul its own education to-last for the comprehensiveness of its
sector. We are turning into a more service- national education strategy on skills for the connect all schools to the internet by the end open to more constructive solutions. New
and technology-orientated economy, says future. Mr Bullrichs reforms may change this. of 2018. Technology is a factor because kids measures include doubling their minimum
Esteban Bullrich, the countrys education are going to use it no matter which field of wage, introducing scholarships to attract the
minister. We are seeing a shift in the skills Like New Zealand, Argentina has invested knowledge theyll go into, he explains. Even brightest students into the profession, and
requested by businessmen. Were going into heavily in technology infrastructure. Mr arts are more and more technology-dependent. encouraging teachers to contact him directly
a world where people will be changing jobs, Bullrich says the governments aim is to with questions and concerns.
The education system is like an old Argentina is also keen to learn from examples
Middle income, middling education? abroad. Headmasters visit innovative schools
car that you keep on upgrading
Middle-income economies, index scores (out of 100) in places such as Finland and Sweden, and are
weve left that old car behind
100 then encouraged to share their experiences
and jumped into a spaceship that
and insights. It has also begun to shift to more
80 were building from scratch. project-based learning involving collaboration
ESTEBAN BULLRICH, MINISTER OF EDUCATION, ARGENTINA and problem-solving. Although Mr Bullrichs
60
overhaul is partly constrained by Argentinas
40 economic problems, he is demonstrating the
Overhauling the quality of teaching is a impact of a strong strategic vision aimed at
20
bigger challenge for Mr Bullrich. He says that equipping a countrys young people for future
the leaders of Argentinas powerful teaching challenges. The education system is like an old
0
Argentina Mexico Brazil South Africa Turkey Russia China Iran unions distrust government promises, car that you keep on upgrading, he says. But
(20th overall) (21st) (22nd) (23rd) (24th) (27th) (31st) (35th) and are prone to calling strikes. However, weve left that old car behind and jumped into a
Overall score Policy environment Teaching environment Socio-economic environment he says that the teachers themselves are spaceship that were building from scratch.
6 Defined as gross national income per capita of $4,036 to $12,475 (see https://blogs.worldbank.org/opendata/new-country-classifications-2016)
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Despite technologys importance and will also help them better teach future skills
potential, an education system that simply by assisting with more routine teaching
delegates teaching to digital devices is tasks: Technology will help with the boring Technology will disrupt education and assist
unlikely to succeed.7 Instead, technologys nitty-gritty stuff like timetables, allowing the learning of future skills in other ways,
main classroom role is to complement and them to concentrate on knowledge transfer for instance through allowing greater
enable good learning practices. This includes and connecting people. The real promise of analysis of teaching data and trends, and
personalised learning, where students work technology is to free teachers from mind- how this relates to the evolving demands
at a pace appropriate for their abilities, and numbing drilling. of the labour market. Its disruptive power
often on subjects or projects that they have will be best harnessed by education systems
chosen themselves. Kids learn more when that are able to foster innovation and find
theyre doing things that they personally care Rise of the MOOCs ways to systematise those that work, even
about, and this allows students to pick things at the expense of incumbents and institutions.
that matter to them, argues Esther Wojcicki Mr Levin says that credentials from next- Its power will not be best harnessed by
of Palo Alto High School. Individual digital generation sources such as Massive Open systems that merely bombard students with
devices allow this flexibility of choice and Online Courses (MOOCs) that his company expensive devices.
pace, while algorithms can track performance Coursera provides, will disrupt assessment
and allow teachers to identify and address systems and make them more responsive
individual students needs. to the skills demanded by employers. Such
disruption is likely to open up pathways
Some technologies facilitate collaboration toward the kind of lifelong learning that is a
between students and between schools. Ms core feature of most future-skills education
Whitaker says the opportunities to do this are systems. Mr Levin says this will make
7 One OECD study found no discernible link between levels of spending on classroom technology and basic learning outcomes. See Students, Computers
and Learning: Making the Connection, OECD (2016), http://www.oecd.org/publications/students-computers-and-learning-9789264239555-en.htm
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1 New Zealand
2 Netherlands
3 United Kingdom
4 Brazil
5 France
6 Turkey
7 Germany
8 Argentina
9 Australia
10 Vietnam
10 United States
12 Poland
13 South Africa
14 Mexico
15 South Korea
16 Italy
17 India
18 Spain
19 Chile
20 Israel
21 Hong Kong
22 Japan
23 Iran
24 Finland
25 Saudi Arabia
26 Singapore
27 Egypt
28 Taiwan
29 Indonesia
30 Canada
31 Switzerland
32 Philippines
33 Russia
34 Nigeria
35 China
Source: UNESCO
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The index recognises a strong correlation (5th), but ranks only 26th on socio-economic
between a generally open society and preparing environment; Japan is 7th overall, coming in Worldwide Educating for the Future Index results: socio-economic environment
its younger generations for the challenges of 4th place for teaching environment and 12th (scores out of 100)
a changing future. Among the indexs highest for policy, but a comparatively lowly 20th for
scorers, New Zealand, Canada, Finland and socio-economic environment. Notably, both
Switzerland all score highly on indicators underperform on gender equality (something
related to a free and fair society. Among lower that they share with Turkey, Saudi Arabia and
performers, Turkey, Russia, China and Vietnam Iran). South Korea is also a notable under-
would all improve their scores with more performer on environmental performance
freedom and openness. Specific indicators (along with India).
such as corruption are strongly correlated with Hong Kong
on this indicator compared to 5th overall). every individual is not just a career but a
voter, a neighbour, a parent. It is of the
The extent to which these societal factors first importance that everybody, including
influence the acquisition of future skills is
our physicists and accountants, should List of economies
heretofore uncharted territory. Without
a doubt, an open society is important in a have had the opportunity to think about Best environment Good environment Moderate environment Needs improvement
future-skills education because it reflects and and discuss the world. 1. Finland 99.5 10. United States 73.2 18. Italy 66.9 27. India 36.5
supports some of the more intangible character A C GRAYLING, NEW COLLEGE OF THE HUMANITIES 2. New Zealand 92.2 11. Chile 72.9 19. France 65.8 28. Indonesia 36.3
attributes necessary for work and life in a rapidly 3. United Kingdom 88.1 12. Argentina 72.6 20. Japan 65.7 29. China 33.5
changing future. An open society encourages 4. Australia 86.5 13. Taiwan 71.5 21. Hong Kong 58.4 30. Turkey 30.0
responsibility, self-reliance and the ability to 5. Switzerland 86.2 14. Brazil 71.3 22. Mexico 58.0 31. Nigeria 27.0
make robust choices while recognising trends Both Mr Sahlberg and Dankert Vedeler of 6. Germany 85.3 15. Singapore 70.4 23. Philippines 51.7 32. Egypt 24.3
and opportunities. It also generates variety and the Norwegian Ministry of Education and 7. Canada 85.2 16. South Africa 70.1 24. Israel 45.5 33. Vietnam 24.0
exposes students to different points of view. Research emphasise that equity is a vital 8. Netherlands 84.3 17. Poland 69.4 25. Russia 44.8 34. Iran 16.3
9. Spain 79.8 26. South Korea 42.8 35. Saudi Arabia 15.8
component of a future-skills education system:
Both Japan and South Korea would score higher it involves holding students of all abilities up
on the index by paying more attention to some to a high performance standard, encouraging
of the indicators in this section: Korea ranks competence-based learning and realising the
12th overall with a strong showing on future- maximum potential of all, to the benefit of the
education policy (6th) and teaching environment wider economy. Mr Sahlberg notes that a critical
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*Defined as the weighted, standardised sum of the World Press Freedom Index (Reporters Without Borders, 2017), Corruption Perceptions Index
(Transparency International, 2016) and Democracy Index (The Economist Intelligence Unit, 2016)
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8 PISA does not present a single aggregate ranking per education system, but instead produces separate rankings for mathematics, science and reading,
along with performance in collaborative problem solving. See PISA 2015 Results (Volume I): Excellence and Equity in Education, OECD (2016),
http://www.oecd.org/publications/pisa-2015-results-volume-i-9789264266490-en.htm
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Qualitative indicators: eight of the indexs 16 Indicator scores are normalised and then The largest category, teaching environment,
indicators are qualitative assessments of an aggregated across categories to enable an accounts for half of the index. Within this
economys environment for educating youth overall comparison. To make data comparable, category, quality of teacher education makes
with skills for the futurefor example, career we normalised the data on the basis of: up the largest share, accounting for 20% of the
counselling in high schools, which is assessed category. Other indicators similarly assess the
on a scale of 0-2, where: Normalised x = (x - Min(x)) / (Max(x) - Min(x)) quality of teaching, support for teachers and
extra-curricular student support programmes.
- 2=career counselling services are available where Min(x) and Max(x) are, respectively,
in high schools the lowest and highest values among the The final category, socio-economic
35 economies for any given indicator. The environment, measures the extent to which
- 1=career counselling services are somewhat normalised value is then transformed into societies are prepared to educate youth for the
available in high schools a positive number on a scale of 0-100. skills of tomorrow. Indicators in this category
The same process applies to quantitative assess diversity, tolerance, openness, equality
- 0=career counselling services are not indicators, where a high value indicates and civic mindedness at the societal level.
available in high schools a better environment that supports
educating for the future. All raw data for The following table provides a brief description
To focus the analysis, this index assesses the index is available to download from of indicators, data and weights:
education for youth aged 15-24. The 35 educatingforthefuture.economist.com.
economies selected represent 88% of global GDP
36 The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2017 The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2017 37
The Worldwide Educating for the Future Index
A benchmark for the skills of tomorrow
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