World Bank Group2015-12-142015-12-142015-12-02https://hdl.handle.net/10986/23330Facing the prospects of rapid aging and shrinking population over the coming decades, Slovakia needs a highly skilled workforce to help generate the productivity growth that it needs to fuel its continued convergence of living standards with its West European neighbors. Skilling up the workforce starts with equipping youth with the right cognitive and socio-emotional foundation skills. International research has identified three dimensions of skills that matter for good employment outcomes and economic growth: cognitive skills, such as literacy, numeracy, creative and critical thinking or problem-solving; socio-emotional skills and behavioral traits, such as conscientiousness, grit or openness to experience; and job- or occupation-specific technical skills, such as the ability to work as an engineer. This report focuses on cognitive skills and examines results for Slovakia from the program for international student assessment (PISA), which assesses the mathematics, reading, and science competencies of 15-year-olds. Its findings suggest that Slovakia can do significantly better in helping students develop cognitive foundation skills. This note proposes several policy recommendations, based on an analysis of Slovakia’s PISA data as well as international evidence, to make Slovakia’s education system both stronger and more inclusive.en-USCC BY 3.0 IGOLIVING STANDARDSSKILLSEMPLOYMENTSCHOOL SYSTEMCOLLEGEECONOMIC GROWTHSCHOOL READINESSTEACHERSMATH TESTSCHOOLINGNUMERACYGROUPSMATH SCORESSTRATEGIESLABOR FORCEHIGH SCHOOLCAREERGENERAL SECONDARY SCHOOLSCOMPUTER SKILLSTECHNICAL SKILLSACCESS TO PRESCHOOLCOLLEGESDISCIPLINESTHINKINGLANGUAGEEMPLOYMENT OUTCOMESREPEATERSLITERACYCHILDHOOD EDUCATIONTRAININGTESTSSECONDARY SCHOOLSCURRICULUM CONTENTMOBILITYABILITYAGINGCHILD DEVELOPMENTSECONDARY SCHOOLSHOW HOWSTREAMINGCOMPULSORY SCHOOLINGSTUDENT OUTCOMESNEEDSCOMPETENCIESSTUDENT ACHIEVEMENTLEARNINGEDUCATION SYSTEMRESEARCHPRIMARY SCHOOLEDUCATION ATTAINMENTTEACHINGTEST SCORESPROBLEM SOLVINGKINDERGARTENDIPLOMASASSESSMENTSREADINGSUBJECTSACADEMIC STREAMHUMAN CAPITALSTUDENT ASSESSMENTSTUDYWORKERSQUALITY PRESCHOOLSCIENCEPUBLIC EXPENDITUREPROFESSIONAL LIFESCHOOLSSTUDENTAGEGENDERLEARNING OUTCOMESLIFELONG LEARNINGCHILDHOODSCHOOL TYPESSTUDENT PERFORMANCECOMPETENCESKILLED WORKFORCESCHOOL REFORMACHIEVEMENTPEER REVIEWPUBLIC EXPENDITURESEARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATIONRESEARCHERSEXPENDITURESCLASSROOM LEVELLITERATUREEARLY CHILDHOODYOUTHSECONDARY SCHOOLINGYOUNG CHILDRENCURRICULUMQUALITY OF LIFETEACHERINTERNATIONAL STUDENT ASSESSMENTREPETITIONUPPER SECONDARYBASIC LITERACYCOGNITIVE SKILLSUNDERSTANDINGCHILDRENEDUCATIONINVESTMENTRURAL AREASBASIC SKILLSPERFORMANCEEXPERIENCEPROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENTYOUNG PEOPLESTUDENTSEXPENDITURES PER STUDENTTYPES OF SCHOOLSGOALSCLASSROOMREPETITION RATESSCHOOLSOCIAL MOBILITYReportWorld Bank10.1596/23330