Enlarged debate of the Assembly on the activities of OECD in 1996 in the field of education

Enlarged debate of the Assembly on the activities of OECD in 1996 in the field of education

Contribution

Doc. 7908

16 September 1997

(Rapporteur: Mr Jan Kouckı, Czech Republic, European Democratic Group)

Introduction

1. In order to prepare this opinion I visited the OECD on 21 July 1997for exchanges of views with Mr T. Alexander, Director for Education and Social Affairs, Mr J. Bengtsson, Head of the Centre for Educational Research and Innovation (CERI) and Mr A. Hasan, Head of Division for Education and Training. I should like to thank them for their cooperation and for the useful information they provided.

2. The enlargement of the OECD, which had started in 1994 with Mexico and then in 1995 with the Czech Republic, continued in 1996 with Hungary, Poland and the Republic of Korea. 22 countries are now members of both the OECD and the Council of Europe.

The activities of OECD

3. OECD implements its educational activities through the Education Committee (EDC), the Centre for Educational Research and Innovation (CERI) and two decentralised Programme on Educational Building (PEB) and on Institutional Management in Higher Education (IMHE).

4. In 1996 these activities were grouped under four main headings: The Knowledge Base, including international education indicators, training statistics, country by country education policy reviews and a thematic review of the first three years of tertiary education; Management and Development of Education Systems, including the series "What Works?", the two decentralised programmes mentioned above, combating failure at school, curriculum and innovation at school, environment and social initiatives, education and new information technologies and education in a new international setting; Education, Society and the Economy, including education and training policy, the changing role of vocational and technical education and training, the human resource implications in flexible enterprises and active life for the disabled and Internationalisation and Educational Cooperation in a Global Framework including innovation exchange activities and cooperation with central and east European countries. The Organisation issued 19 publications in 1996 relating to these activities (see Appendix).

5. 1996 was the last in a 5-year action plan for education. Detailed information on OECD activities in the education field is included in the document entitled "Report on OECD Education Activities in 1994 - 1996 and Programme Activities for 1997-98", submitted in accordance with established practice to the Council of Europe's Standing Conference of European Ministers of Education, this year in Kristiansand in Norway (22-24 June 1997).

6. On the other hand, as the Education Committee met at ministerial level already in January 1996, the work of the Organisation in this field was very much influenced by that meeting. It was therefore also a year of transition and from 1997 a new five year mandate of OECD is starting in the education field.

7. The theme of the ministerial meeting was "Making Lifelong Learning a Reality for All" and Ministers called on "their partners in the provision of education and training and those involved in the creation of employment to help them generate a positive and encouraging climate of opinion in which lifelong learning can flourish, and to establish the mechanisms which will make it a reality". The record of the meeting of OECD Education Ministers in 1996 and detailed analysis of items discussed are included in the main OECD programme publication on the education field "Lifelong Learning for All", issued in the summer of 1996.

8. For 1997/98 the work of the OECD Education Committee will be concentrated in the pursuit of five objectives: monitoring and evaluating policies, strengthening the foundations of lifelong learning, facilitating transitions in education and work, mobilising resources and rethinking the roles of governments and their partners. The main aims of the programme of the CERI for the same period are: to analyse and report on research findings and innovations, and develop key indicators on current and emerging issues, and their connections with other policy sectors; to explore forward-looking and coherent approaches in the context of cultural, social and economic change; and to facilitate practical cooperation among member countries and, where relevant, with non member countries, in order to seek solutions to and exchange views on problems of common interest.

Comments

9. The programme of OECD in the education field is undoubtedly both considerably extensive and very ambitious. It is aimed not only at providing a deep analysis and support of education policies of individual topical issues in most of OECD states (for example in 1996 "Tertiary Education" was such a topical issue), but also at creating fundamental databases for international comparison of education systems and policies. It is worthwhile to cite for example the extensive project of indicators of education systems, INES, the results of which are yearbooks: "Education at a glance: issues, indicators and analysis".

10. Although the relations between education and the economy is the prevailing approach, the oecd programme is not limited to these, but deals also with non-economic aspects of educational development. The thematic orientation of the OECD education mandate, that ended in 1996, as well as the new mandate which started in 1997, do not overlap, but rather complement the Council of Europe's activities in the field of education. The Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe can fully support the orientation of the new mandate as indicated in the document "Lifelong Learning for All". It should however be stressed that closer co-operation between these two organisations is required.

Human rights and Asia

11. The Committee on Culture and Education has been alerted to the appalling situation of human rights in some countries of Asia, such as Tibet. We understand that a working group has been set up in OECD to prepare a new investment treaty, which would include provisions for investment in the cultural field. Although this has no direct relation with the work of the OECD Education Committee or CERI, we feel that the Assembly should make it clear in its Resolution addressed to the OECD that any investment in new member countries such as South Korea, or non-member countries such as China, should be subject to improvements in human rights in these countries.

Conclusion

12. Education is an area where both the OECD and the Council of Europe are active. Despite the fact that the Ministers, and to a certain extent the national representatives, attending the meetings of the education committees of both organisations are the same, it is clear that the approaches, the aims and the working methods are substantially different. For example the Council of Europe Conference of Ministers of Education (Kristiansand, June 1997) highlighted history teaching, the impact on education of the new information and communication technologies and education of minorities. The OECD and the Council of Europe are complementary rather than overlapping. This should continue to be the case. The two Organisations should however keep themselves fully informed of each other's activities in the field of education, inter alia by taking part in the meetings of their respective education committees and by more frequent inter-secretariat meetings. Moreover as often recommended by the Committee on Culture and Education, it should be possible to identify specific subjects where cooperation between OECD and the Council of Europe would add value to the work of both organisations.

OECD publications in the field of education in 1996

- Education at a Glance: OECD Indicators

- Education at a Glance: Analysis

- Reviews of National Policies for Education:

- The Czech Republic

- France

- Poland

- Mapping the Future: Young People and Career Guidance

- Schools for Today and Tomorrow: an International Compendium of exemplary Educational Facilities

- Managing Information Strategies in Higher Education

- Information Technology and the Future of Post Secondary Education

- Changing the Subject: Innovation in Science, Mathematics and Technology Education

- Adult Learning and Technology in OECD Countries

- Adult Learning in a New Technological Era

- Information Technology and the Future of Post Secondary Education

- Internationalisation of Higher Education

- Lifelong Learning for All

- Assessing and Certifying Occupational Skills and Competencies in Vocational Education and Training

- Technology, Productivity and Job Creation

- Education and Training: Learning and Working in a Society in Flux

- Integrating Services for Children at Risk: Denmark, France, the Netherlands, Sweden, the United Kingdom (England and Wales)

- Successful Services for Our Children and Families at Risk

Committee for report: Committee on Economic Affairs and Development (Doc. 7877)

Committee for contribution: Committee on Culture and Education

Reference to committee: standing mandate

Contribution approved by the committee on 9 September 1997