27th May 2015 1:00
By Blue Tutors
A report commissioned by the OECD has shown that the UK economy could grow by billions of pounds a year if all students gained at least basic literacy and numeracy skills before leaving school. The report also said that if boys and girls reached a similar level of education attainment there would be a further significant boost for the economy. The current number of students in the UK who leave school without basic skills is around 20%, while there are considerable disparities in the achievement of boys and girls in different subjects. According to the OECD’s analysis, making efforts to address these gaps in attainment would pay huge dividends in the long run.
The research examined the international rankings of 15 year old students using the OECD’s international Pisa tests. Economists studying the data from participating countries calculated that bringing all students up to the same minimum level of achievement would increase the national output of the UK by more than 2 trillion pounds by 2095, spread over 65 years. Although the figures are a projection, the enormous increase in output suggests that heavy investment in improving basic skills would pay for itself many times over. Expanding economy and increases in real wages would more than cover the short term addition costs of the educational changes required.
The report authors highlighted the extent to which poor education has a disastrous effect of countries’ economies. They pointed out that in many cases the economic output lost because of poor education policies is enough to leave countries in a permanent state of economic recession. The authors went on to say that the detrimental effect of poor education policies on the economy can be deeper and further reaching than that of the financial crisis. The report also noted that reducing the gap in performance by gender would add billions to the national income.