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Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
Benjamin Franklin was not known for his financial advice. But America’s founding father is widely quoted as having proclaimed: “An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.” More than 200 years later, this wisdom still holds true. One extra year of schooling amounts to an annual rate of return of 9 per cent for the individual, according to a recent World Bank study. For measure, that is greater than the annualised price return of the S&P 500 over the past half century. Education additionally drives untold gains for society and the economy too.
That makes it all the more unfortunate that the “interest” earned by today’s youth in many countries could be accreting upon a lower and poorer level of education. The latest data from the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment shows a troubling drop in the attainment standards of the average 15-year-old across the developed world. They are suffering from a double blow.
As nations locked down over Covid-19, many students fell behind on their schooling. Between 2018 and 2022, mean performance in reading and mathematics fell by a record. Students lost three-quarters of a year in arithmetic learning on average. But the long-run Pisa data shows standards were already declining before the pandemic. Trajectories for reading and science scores had been falling for a decade before, while attainment in numeracy stagnated. The grim aggregate trends, however, belie positive national-level lessons that may serve as a guide for how governments everywhere can move forward.
During the pandemic, education systems in east Asia, including in Japan and South Korea, were particularly resilient. They tended to impose shorter school closures and children were also more adept at learning via digital means. Others should invest in the resilience of their education systems for future disruptions, and in the meantime they need to ensure students catch up. That requires additional resources for schools. But funding has, so far, been patchy. Money for schools is an easy squeeze for governments, but gains from short-term cuts are far outweighed by the long-term economic cost of lost productivity.
The long-term drop in attainment, however, is not all about funding. The Pisa data suggests that above $75,000 total spending per student, the link between investment and performance weakens. The falling availability and quality of teachers is a core factor. A UN study suggests 4.8mn teachers are needed across Europe and North America to secure quality primary and secondary education. Low salaries are part of the problem. But so is the broader status, wellbeing and training of teachers, which support retention and attraction to the profession. In Singapore, which tops the Pisa tables, teachers are more likely to report feeling valued by society.
Student mindsets, which can be shaped from an early age, matter too. Low expectations, weak social relationships with teachers, and social media-sapped attention spans hold back performance. This can be assuaged through teacher training and standard setting. As for distractions, one in four countries has already placed restrictions on smartphones in the classroom, according to UN estimates.
Balanced approaches are also important. Finland has been a poster child for its “phenomenon-based learning”, which places less emphasis on curricular-based learning, but it dropped significantly in the rankings. In the UK too, Scotland’s “curriculum for excellence” — which focuses on wellbeing — was blamed by some for its poor performance in core skills relative to England.
The global report card was alarming, but governments are not helpless. Differences between nations show that policy, both good and bad, impacts outcomes. With failure comes wisdom. Just like all good students, policymakers must now learn from their mistakes.
Source: Economy - ft.com
