Publication: Skills, Not Just Diplomas : Managing Education for Results in Eastern Europe and Central Asia
Date
2012
ISSN
Published
2012
Author(s)
Abstract
The countries of Europe and Central Asia
(ECA) are currently emerging from the deepest recession
suffered by any developing region. Post-crisis conditions
are very different from those of preceding years. Financial
resources are more limited and more expensive, and export
growth is restrained by potentially slower growth in
destination countries. Restoring and sustaining growth in
this context require reforms that boost competitiveness and
increase labor productivity. Such reforms are all the more
important given the shrinking of the working-age population
in many countries of the region. This book uses a range of
different data sources to argue that the skills problem in
the ECA region relates more to the quality and relevance of
the education provided in ECA countries than to problems of
access. A central argument of the book is that ministries of
education are constrained in a number of ways from
effectively managing their education and training sectors.
The three most important and interrelated impediments to
improving quality and relevance are the lack of systematic
data on key skills-related performance issues (i.e., how
much students are learning and whether they are finding jobs
after they graduate), the legacy of central planning, and
inefficient use of resources. Lack of data on student
learning and employment outcomes makes it difficult for
education ministries to address the legacy of central
planning, which emphasizes centralized management based on
inputs. Ministries of education in the region continue to
micromanage the sector using detailed norms and regulations.
This input-oriented style of management leads to the
inefficient use of resources and results in a rigid
education sector not the type of flexible sector needed by
ECA to create modern, skilled workforces. This book
highlights how these constraints manifest themselves and
then presents ways of overcoming them, relying on the
experience of ECA countries that have successfully addressed
them, together with international experience.
Recommendations are presented in separate chapters for
pre-university, tertiary, and adult education.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“Sondergaard, Lars; Murthi, Mamta; Abu-Ghaida, Dina; Bodewig, Christian; Rutkowski, Jan. 2012. Skills, Not Just Diplomas : Managing
Education for Results in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/2368 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
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