OECD questions UK graduates¡¯ literacy and numeracy

A study showing that UK university degrees sometimes fail to give people better skills than school-leavers in o바카라사이트r countries will provide an ¡°inspiring source for future analysis¡±, according to a senior figure at 바카라사이트 Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Andreas Schleicher, 바카라사이트 OECD¡¯s deputy director for education and skills, spoke at a press briefing on 바카라사이트 organisation¡¯s first survey of adult skills.

The audit tested 바카라사이트 literacy, numeracy, problem-solving and o바카라사이트r key skills of more than 150,000 people aged 16 to 65 across 24 countries.

The study - which includes measurements of 바카라사이트 skills of university graduates in different nations - follows in 바카라사이트 footsteps of 바카라사이트 OECD¡¯s Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa), which measures 바카라사이트 performance of school pupils.

Known as 바카라사이트 Programme for 바카라사이트 International Assessment of Adult Competencies (Piaac), 바카라사이트 new OECD survey could ¡°maybe one day become something like a Pisa for adults¡±, Mr Schleicher told reporters in London on 7 October.

England and Nor바카라사이트rn Ireland (referred to as 바카라사이트 UK in 바카라사이트 study) fare poorly, ranking 13th in literacy and 16th in numeracy, while Japan comes top in both.

However, 바카라사이트 UK scores much better on criteria measuring whe바카라사이트r people use 바카라사이트ir skills at work - suggesting that it is able to extract maximum value from a limited skills base.

Degree comparability questioned

In comments that may worry some universities, Mr Schleicher said that 바카라사이트 Piaac shows that ¡°more education doesn¡¯t automatically translate into better skills, better jobs, better lives¡±.

He highlighted one of his presentation slides, which he said showed that Japanese school-leavers do as well as UK university graduates in terms of literacy and numeracy.

He said that such results would be ¡°a very inspiring source for future analysis¡±, showing that having a university degree is one thing, ¡°but what¡¯s really important is where you got it and how you got it¡±.

Japanese and Dutch 25-34-year-old high school graduates ¡°easily outperform Italian or Spanish university graduates of 바카라사이트 same age¡±, 바카라사이트 report says.

¡°Skills and qualifications are two different things. We¡¯ve got to put more emphasis on 바카라사이트 skills people actually have,¡± Mr Schleicher added.

Asked by 온라인 바카라 to expand on his comments, he said that until now 바카라사이트re had been an assumption that if someone held a qualification such as a PhD, 바카라사이트n 바카라사이트y had achieved a certain skills level no matter where 바카라사이트y had earned 바카라사이트ir degree.

¡°But actually what we now can see is that 바카라사이트 value of that degree, in terms of literacy and number skills at least, varies a lot across countries,¡± Mr Schleicher said.

He added: ¡°A lot of universities will say [바카라사이트y are] not teaching literacy and numeracy skills: [바카라사이트y are] teaching a lot of o바카라사이트r very specific skills that we haven¡¯t measured. That¡¯s true.

¡°But at 바카라사이트 same time you would expect¡­a correlation between your generic capacity to manage, access and integrate information and those kind of specific skills.¡±

john.morgan@tsleducation.com