re: Quality education for all: more than just a financial challenge

Andreas Schleicher (OECD) — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 17:12:40 GMT

You are certainly right that universities are not the only route to better employment and social status. However, they are a very powerful one. Indicator A9 in Education at a Glance 2008 (at dx.doi.org/.../401781614508 ) shows that the earnings advantage of a university degree, as compared with secondary education, has risen from 33% in 1997 to 64% in 2006. By contrast, the earnings advantage associated with a dual system apprenticeship is only 12% over a secondary qualification.

re: Quality education for all: more than just a financial challenge

Roger Hildebrandt — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 08:37:27 GMT

As a German, I wondered about the low percentage of graduates proceeding to university after college in comparison to OECD average and esp. countries like Australia and Russia.

My first impression was that Germany should really improve its tertiary and secondary school system or the incentives for college graduates to proceed to university.

Having thought about it from the perspective of the graduates though, the low percentage of students could also be explained through the fact, that the need to study in order to achieve good career perspectives as well as a fair social status in Germany is just not as predominant as in other countries.

One explanation for this phenomenon is obviously the excellent 3 year apprenticeship, which leads to a degree that most of the SME entrepreneurs are fully satisfied with. Besides this degree gives the successful graduates the opportunity to enrol themselves at a university, too and quench their thirst for extra education.

Against this background I think that the mere numbers stated in the OECD graphics are just one indicator for a phenomenon, which is manifold and therefore needs additional explanation as well as background information to avoid misleading interpretation.

Best regards from Berlin, Germany

R. Hildebrandt