Chapter B: Access to Education, Participation and Progress – Summary B1

1. B1 Who participates in education?

Compulsory education

In most OECD countries, compulsory education starts in general with primary education; by the age of 6. However, there are some varieties among OECD and partner countries. Some countries have an educational system that requires parents to enroll their children to compulsory education at an earlier age; while in other countries such as Estonia, Finland, Indonesia, Lithuania, Russia, and South Africa the primary school only begins at the age of 7. Compulsory education usually ends with the completion or partial completion of upper secondary education at the age of 16 on average across OECD countries. Moreover, on average across OECD countries, full enrolment (the age range when at least 90% of the population is enrolled in education) lasts 14 years, starting from the age of 4 to the age of 17. The period of the latter lasts between 11 and 16 years in most countries and reaches 17 in Norway.

In sum, in all OECD countries, compulsory education comprises primary and lower secondary education. In most countries, there is almost universal coverage of basic education, since enrolment rates among 6- to 14-year-olds reached or exceeded 95% in all OECD countries.

 

Participation of 15-19 years-olds in education

With time, countries have improved their upper secondary programmes in terms of diversity. This phenomenon is the result of the increasing demand for upper secondary education and the aftermath of significant changes in curricula and labour-market needs. Indeed, curricula have developed, from general and vocational programmes to offering more comprehensive programmes that include both types of learning, leading to more academic and professional opportunities.

On average across OECD countries, 84% of the population is enrolled in education between the age of 15 and 19. The highest share of enrollments rate is in Belgium, Ireland, and Slovenia, with 94%. However, the enrolment rate did not improve in all OECD countries; for example, Germany, Hungary, and Iceland have witnessed a fall of more than 3 percentage points among 15- to 19-year-olds. Therefore, the share of students enrolled in each education level and at each stage shed lights the various educational systems and directions among countries. The highest rate of diversification in terms of academic and professional choices, is when students reach the age of 18 years old.

An additional important factor to analyse the data on ‘’Who Participates in Education?’’, is the education enrolment per gender. Indeed, studies show that female students outnumber male students in almost all age groups and at all education levels. The difference of enrolment rates can be explained through school drop-out and, indirectly, to lower school performance and grade repetition. On average across OECD countries, boys are more likely to repeat a grade in general programmes than girls and represent 61% of the repeaters in lower secondary education and 57% in upper secondary education. Consequently, women have higher enrolment rates and better performance, while repetition rates are higher among men. However, the share of repeaters varies by country with its respective educational system and by educational level.

Participation of 20- to 24-year-olds in education

A general indicator of the transition from secondary to tertiary education is the decrease of enrolment rates on average. The average enrolment rate of 20- to 24-year-olds age group across OECD countries is almost the half of 15- to 19-year-olds: only 41% of the population aged 20-24 is enrolled in education. On average across OECD countries, 37% of the female population in this group age and 29% of their male peers are enrolled in tertiary education. The gender gap in enrolment increases even more with this age group.

 

Participation of adults aged 25 and older in education

Among this age category, the enrolment in education becomes less common. Indeed, the OECD average enrolment rate in all levels of education reaches 16% among 25- to 29-year-olds. Moreover, the gender gap also decreases since enrolment rates are lower above age 24. Enrolment rates are only 1 percentage point higher for 25- to 29-year-old women on average. And finally, the OECD average enrolment rate for the population aged 40 to 64 is 2%.

 

Subnational variations in enrolment

Subnational variation in enrolment patterns emphasises on the equality of access to education across a country, as well as long term labour-market opportunities and the value of durable learning for levels beyond compulsory education or tertiary education. In addition, in more than half of the countries with data available, the difference of the enrolment rate between subnational regions is more significant than the difference of national rates across various OECD countries.

 

Sources

Summarized by Faical Al Azib from OECD, Education at a Glance 2021: OECD Indicators – Indicator B1; B2; B3. Access to Education, Participation and Progress: https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/docserver/b35a14e5-en.pdf?expires=1645351809&id=id&accname=guest&checksum=0B361D22CD2C8DE309F5589F172BD8A2