OECD Educationtoday Crisis Survey 2010: The Impact of the Economic Recession and Fiscal Crisis on Education in OECD Countries. OECD Education Working Papers, No. 56
Author: Damme, Dirk V.
Date: 2011-00-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Outcomes of Education,Educational Change,Educational Demand,Financial Support,Educational Assessment,Educational Indicators,Economic Impact,Questionnaires,Educational Finance,Financial Problems,Change Strategies,Economic Change,Economic Factors,Finance Reform,Educational Attitudes,Program Attitudes,School Surveys,Fiscal Capacity

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Directorate for Education surveyed the impact of the economic recession on education for the first time in June 2009. Responses were received from seventeen OECD member countries, the Flemish Community of Belgian and two Canadian provinces. The results of the survey reflect the observations of officials in education ministries and public agencies in member countries regarding various aspects of the impact of the economic recession and fiscal crisis on education. The survey indicated that the main effects of the crisis on education were: (1) a marked increase in demand for non-compulsory education in many countries as a result of rising unemployment; (2) some budget cuts in education in some countries; (3) attempts by governments in several countries to reduce the negative consequences on schools and universities by targeted explicit or implicit stimulus measures; vocational education and training, tertiary education and upper-secondary education benefit the most from stimulus measures; and (4) a rather severe impact on private investment. A second OECD "educationtoday" Crisis Survey was carried out over the summer of 2010. Twenty-five OECD member countries completed the questionnaire. The main change between the two surveys is that the first was carried out at a time of economic recession, while the second was developed at a time of economic recovery and fiscal consolidation. Indeed, the education systems in OECD member countries are mainly confronted with the difficulties of governments to maintain the growth of public spending as in past pre-crisis years. The main outcomes of the 2010 survey are the following: (1) The survey data does not portrait an education system dramatically affected by overall budget cuts; (2) In general, governments seem to be rather successful in protecting education spending; (3) The demand for non-compulsory education continues to augment, especially in vocational education and training, although the recession reduces the capacity of enterprises to uphold their training investments; (4) The recession has not slowed down reforms in education; on the contrary, some countries have accelerated reforms; and (5) Some governments are also taking into consideration the difficult situation of private households by increasing social measures to contain education cost. Annexed are: (1) Questionnaire Respondents; (2) The Crisis and Demand for Education in the Past; (3) The Crisis and Expected Demand for Education; (4) Targeting of Stimulus Spending on Education; (5) The Crisis and Public Financing of Education in the Past; (6) The Crisis and Educational Reform; and (7) The Crisis and Expected Public Financing of Education. (Contains 3 tables, 1 box and 4 notes.)