Education and productivity Expert presentation at the seminar The Impact of the Crisis on Member States’ Ability to Respond to the Challenges of Demographic Change European Commission, Brussels 22 February 2010 Palle Rasmussen Department of Education, Learning and Philosophy Aalborg University

The Demographic Challenge Three aspects of the problem: Reducing the fall in labour force participation Increasing the productivity of labour Upholding/improving welfare and life quality   Education is important to all three aspects, but in different ways

Reducing the fall in labour market participation Improve women’s labour force participation through education Improving the skills of unemployed people in order to draw them into work Educating older people for modern work (demanding for instance digital literacy) Remember: education has to be supplemented by measures affecting the demand side, for instance measures against discrimination of women, immigrants and older people

Increasing the productivity of labour Raising the level of education and competence for all age groups Educating immigrants for more productive work Increasing the participation in continuing education and learning Improving the conditions for innovation, not only by university graduates but also in broader groups Remember: no simple link between national educational performance and labour productivity. Contrast between educational performance (early school leaving and upper secondary education) and productivity in states like Slovenia, Czech Republic, Poland

Complex links between education and productivity Analysis of relations between company competitiveness, innovation, education and employee competence (P. Nielsen, Danish context) The most innovative firms have the lowest job turnover. HR policies of keeping knowledge resources and learning competences Firms with learning organization features have much higher chance of product innovation Firms with learning organization features hired the largest proportion of higher educated employees Firms with high extensity of vocational training also give high priority to competence development. The flows of unskilled employees in an out are lowest in the firms with high extensity of training, where unskilled often are included in the training activities

Upholding and improving welfare and life quality Maintaining the economic basis for welfare through labour force participation and productivity Developing public welfare provision through social innovation Upholding/improving individual wellbeing, social cohesion and citizenship through meaningful individual and collective learning Remember: Many types of work environment may undermine health and life quality

Impact of economic crisis on education Impacts on public education policy Budget squeeze (public income, priorities) Internal tension, freezing of innovation in education system Impacts on educational participation Rising enrolments, especially in vocational and adult education, as alternative to unemployment Declining in-service education activity because of limited funds in companies and among individuals Impacts on the role of education Declining confidence in the value of education because of graduate unemployment Reaffirmation of the value of education through increased competition for jobs.

Education policy areas Coordinated lifelong learning Early childhood education and care Upper secondary (general and vocational) education Higher education Adult education and training

Coordinated lifelong learning Connecting the different parts of educational systems Collaboration rather than competition between sectors and institutions Avoiding blind alleys Systems of recognition and credit transfer (also of relevant work experience) Guidance

Early childhood education Early childhood education and care contributes to: raising the level of education in new generations equalising educational attainment But also to women’s labour market participation work/family balance freeing grandparents from some caring obligations Public provision for early childhood education and care should be expanded and made better (EU 2020 benchmark: 95% participation after age of 4)

Upper secondary education EU 2010 benchmark: At least 85% completion of secondary education – far from achieved Educational structure (selective/non- selective) and attainment Learning culture and participation Workplace training in secondary education

Higher education EU 2010 benchmark: 15% increase in graduates in math, science and technology – exceeded EU 2020 benchmark: 40% with tertiary education Multiple functions: education, research, innovation Improving recruitment (also adult learners) Improving the labour market skills of university graduates Graduates as knowledge brokers

Adult education EU 2010 benchmark: 12,5% of population in adult lifelong learning – not achieved EU 2020 benchmark: 15% Need to educate many more adults at all levels of education Education and training for immigrants Combining work and learning Older persons and new technology Higher education in later life Funding

Adult education: Examples from Denmark General adult education linked to workplaces ”Second chance” general adult education Courses for groups of employees from (sometimes in) a workplace Curriculum in modules, adapted to company and employee group Can provide relevant skills but also lead to further education A parallel system af part-time adult education Levels of graduation parallel to ordinary education system Teaching at the different levels run by same institutions as ordinary system Recognition of prior relevant work experience Costs shared by state and participants Funding: state, social partners and individuals

Social innovation in education Examples: Developing community-based school models in response to crisis of standardised school models Establishing adult education colleges in rural areas in response to needs for new competencies in agriculture Workshops and courses for different age groups as part of sustainable energy projects Service learning projects and units in higher education, where students do work in response to societal needs.

Conclusion Demographic challenges call for balanced educational strategy: Quality education for children and young people to enable long-term improvements in productivity Educating and training adult populations The economic crisis calls for long-term education policy and social innovation in education Two crucial transversal issues: Developing new interactions between education and work in vocational, higher and adult education Coordinating the different elements and institutions of educational systems in a lifelong perspective