Changes in Secondary Education: From Weakest Link to Cornerstone Juan Manuel Moreno World Bank Seminar on “Growth Strategies for Secondary Education in.

Changes in Secondary Education:From Weakest Link to Cornerstone

Juan Manuel Moreno

World Bank

Seminar on Seminar on

““Growth Strategies for Secondary Growth Strategies for Secondary Education in Asia” Education in Asia”

September 19-21, 2005September 19-21, 2005

Secondary Education: Why now?Secondary Education: Why now?

• After primary education, What? Surging demand driven by EFA.

• “Youth-quake” The largest ever cohort of young people. A global risk or opportunity? Need to build/harness their skills

• Primary education is not enough Globalization and knowledge society present new challenges to human capital development

Demand for secondary education is

soaring

Confluence of 3 forces:

The Strategic Nature of The Strategic Nature of Secondary Education Secondary Education

• Within any given education system, secondary education works as the bridging or articulation bond between primary schooling and tertiary education institutions:

• Secondary education can serve as a set of pathways for students’ progress and advancement

• Or as the main bottleneck preventing the equitable expansion of educational opportunities.

Secondary Education Secondary Education As a Policy ParadoxAs a Policy Paradox

• Terminal - Preparatory. • Compulsory – Post-compulsory• Uniform-diverse• Individual needs and interests -

Societal/Labor market needs• Integrate students and offset

disadvantages – Select and Screen according to academic ability

• Common curriculum for all - Specialized curriculum for some

Political TensionsPolitical Tensions

• While there are strong national and international lobbies for primary or tertiary, there are no such thing for secondary education.

• Reaching political consensus for secondary expansion and reform is much more difficult than for primary or tertiary education.

• As a result, policy choices are more ambiguous and complex.

Twin ChallengeTwin Challenge

• Develop a mass system of secondary education, with quality and equity

• Improve quality, defined as different institutional responses to an increasingly diverse demand

• Generate effective demand for secondary education among youth

Education Attaintment Gaps GrowPercentage of Population

With at Least Some Secondary Education

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010Year

Percentage

ME & N Af

Sub-Sah Af

Lat Am/Car

E Asia/Pac

S Asia

Developed

E Europe

Some Regions are Catching UpSecondary GER by World Region

0

20

40

60

80

100

East Asia ECA LAC MNA SouthAsia

Africa

1980 1990 2001

Demands for Job-Skills is Changing Rapidly

-10

-5

0

5

10

15

Years

Per

cen

tile

Ch

ange

Expert Thinking Complex Communication

Routine Manual

Routine Cognitive

Non-routine Manual

1969 1974 1979 1984 1989 1994 1998

Source: Autor, Levy, and Murnane (2003) “The Skill Content of Recent Technological Change: An Empirical Exploration,” Quarterly Journal of Economics.

Pisa Results for Selected Developing Countries and OECD

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

<1 1 2 3 4 5Pisa Proficiency Levels

Cum

ulat

ive

% o

f le

arne

rs

OECD totalPeruIndonesiaBrazilMexicoThailandOECD Average

PausePauseAsking the right questions!Asking the right questions!

• What percentage of your 16 year old population do you want to master the so-called 21st century skills?

• Which curriculum prepares best for an uncertain future?

The Challenge is to Build up The Challenge is to Build up Meta-cognitive Capital Meta-cognitive Capital and Creative Capital (i)and Creative Capital (i)

Ability to integrate formal and informal learning, declarative knowledge (or knowing that) and procedural knowledge (or know-how)

Ability to access, select and evaluate knowledge in an information-soaked world

Ability to develop and apply several forms of intelligence, beyond strictly cognitive factors

Ability to work and learn effectively and in teams

The Challenge is to Build up The Challenge is to Build up Meta-cognitive Capital Meta-cognitive Capital and Creative Capital (ii)and Creative Capital (ii)

Ability to create, transpose and transfer knowledge

Ability to cope with ambiguous situations, unpredictable problems and unforeseeable circumstances

Ability to cope with multiple careers, learning how to locate oneself in a job market, choose and fashion the relevant education and training

Learning to Think and Learning to Learn

Is Sustainable Expansion of Is Sustainable Expansion of Secondary Education Feasible?Secondary Education Feasible?

• Hong-Kong, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Finland, demonstrate that it is possible

• And it can be done in a short period of time. Between 1990 and 2000 these countries increased the average years of schooling by more than 4.5 years

• Finland and Korea did it, by decreasing the fraction of the adult population with only primary education and increasing the opportunities for all to attend secondary education

Finland and KoreaFinland and Korea Balanced Expansion of Balanced Expansion of Educational Educational AttainmentAttainment

K O R E AP o p u la tio n o v e r 1 5

1 9 6 01 9 6 0

1 9 8 01 9 8 0

2 0 0 02 0 0 0

8 0%

3%

17%

49%

42%

9%

18%

55%

26%

F IN L A N DF IN L A N DP o p u la tio n o ver 1 5

19601960

20002000

19801980

88%

4%

8%

11%

24%

66%

22%

48%

30%

Colombia and BangladeshColombia and Bangladesh Unbalanced Expansion ofUnbalanced Expansion of Educational Educational AttainmentAttainment

C O L O M B IAC O L O M B IAP o p u la tio n o ver 1 5

19601960

19801980

20002000

84%

14%

2%

73%23%

4%

63%

27%

10%

B A N G L A D E SHP opu la tion over 15

19601960

20002000

19801980

96%

0.4%

3%

1%

15%

84%

3%

14%

83%

Financial Gaps and ImbalancesFinancial Gaps and ImbalancesFast-growing economies

Countries succeeding in expanding secondary enrollment

Slow-growing economies

Countries not succeeding in expanding secondary enrollment

Per-student spending on secondary students as a ratio of per-student spending on primary students

Per-student spending on tertiary students as a ratio of per-student spending on secondary students

1.4 1.4 2.2 2.6

3.0 3.2 11.0 9.3

The Shifting – and Fading – Frontier The Shifting – and Fading – Frontier Between General and Vocational CurriculaBetween General and Vocational Curricula

• Reduction in the fragmentation of secondary school curriculum

• The issue nowadays is not so much how to provide vocational skills but how to add basic vocational content to the general curriculum

• Introducing greater diversity by diversifying upper secondary education through the development of multi-faceted programs offering alternative pathways for education and training

How Systems are RespondingHow Systems are RespondingOverall Trends in Curriculum Overall Trends in Curriculum

Reform (i)Reform (i)

• Deferring selection and specialization of pupils

• Ability grouping, tracking and streaming may raise the attainment of higher achievers at the expense of low achievers, which, apart from equity concerns, also raises worries about the loss of human and social capital

How Systems are Responding How Systems are Responding Overall Trends in Curriculum Overall Trends in Curriculum

Reform (ii)Reform (ii)• Increasing the status recognition of traditional

vocational education, in part by pushing it to the upper secondary level and then to post-secondary level.

• Departing from the disciplinary tradition of curriculum design and development, thus moving to broader curriculum areas, skill centered-approaches, etc., which amount to a more relevant and inclusive secondary curriculum.

The Rise and Fall of Curriculum The Rise and Fall of Curriculum Knowledge Areas Politics of Knowledge Areas Politics of

Knowledge and its Market ValueKnowledge and its Market Value

• More subjects have become socially and economically meaningful and therefore aim to occupy a place in the school curriculum (Technology, Economics, Citizenship education, Second Foreign Language, Environmental education, Health).

• Foreign Language, Music, Arts and Physical Education have been promoted from elective to compulsory status.

Access and Quality are not just Access and Quality are not just twin goals but Siamese Twinstwin goals but Siamese Twins

• No country has expanded secondary education without creating the public opinion perception of a quality drop.

• Unchecked expansion can lead to increased inequality, particularly gender and ethnic inequality.

Is It Just Is It Just More of the Same?More of the Same?

• It is not enough to “open doors”.• Changes in the way education

services are delivered.• Targeting the poor and excluded

groups.• Combination of supply and demand

side interventions.• Need to build political consensus

Looking Ahead: Looking Ahead: 3 Key Challenges3 Key Challenges

• Minimizing the inter-country/inter-regional education gap

• Sustainable financing of the expansion

• Address youth needs of relevant secondary education experiences