1. 1
1OECD Skills Strategy
Skills Strategy
A proposed new horizontal OECD project
Andreas Schleicher
Canberra, 13-14 May 2010
Canberra, 13-14 May 2010

2. 2
2 The context
 Growth and competitiveness increasingly depend
OECD Skills Strategy
on the capacity of countries to
 anticipate the evolution of labour demand
 promote skill acquisition and equity of access to learning
 deploy their talent pool effectively by ensuring that the
right mix of skills is being taught and learned and
employers find workers with the skills they need
Develop efficient and sustainable approaches to the
Andreas Schleicher
Canberra, 13-14 May 2010

financing of learning that establish who should pay for
what, when, where and how much.
 Growth is not just affected positively by the
available talent pool, but also negatively by the
economic and social costs associated with
inadequate skills .

3. 3 Assist countries in improving economic and social outcomes through
3
better skills and their effective utilisation
 Responsiveness
Ensuring that education/training providers can adapt
OECD Skills Strategy

efficiently to changing demand
 Quality and efficiency in learning provision
 Ensuring that the right skills are acquired at the right time,
right place and in the most effective mode
 Flexibility in provision
 Allowing people to study/train what they want, when they want
and how they want
 Transferability of skills
Andreas Schleicher
Canberra, 13-14 May 2010
 Such that skills gained are documented in a commonly
accepted and understandable form
 Ease of access
 Reducing barriers to entry such as institutional rigidities, up-
front fees and age restrictions, existence of a variety of
entry and re-entry pathways
 Low costs of early exit
 Recognition for components of learning, modular provision,
credit accumulation and credit transfer systems exist .

4. 4
4 A work programme with four pillars
How do we identify and Is the right mix of
OECD Skills Strategy
assess essential skills skills being taught
for strong, sustainable and learned and can
and balanced growth employers find
and what are the workers with the
factors driving the skills they need?
evolution of skill
demand? Pillar 1 Pillar 2 How can
(EDU and ELS) (ELS)
governments build
Andreas Schleicher
Canberra, 13-14 May 2010
strong coalitions
with the business
sector and social
Pillar 3 Pillar 4
Are skills investors and find
(EDU) (EDU and
developed in LEED) sustainable
effective, equitabl approaches to who
e, efficient and should pay for
sustainable ways? what, when, where
and how much?

5. 5
5 A Pillar 1: Drivers for skill demand
work programme with four pillars
 Issues
How do we identify and Is the right mix of
OECD Skills Strategy
 Changing skill demands within jobs –
assess essential skills skills being taught
often driven by technology
for strong, sustainable and learned and can
 Increased demand for certain occupationsemployers find
and balanced growth
affecting the composition of aggregate skills demand
and what are the workers with the
factors driving the jobs, driven by innovation –skills they need?
 New types of
evolution of skill and in services
in products
demand? Pillar 1 Pillar 2 How can
 Greater need (EDU transferable skills, in part driven by
for and ELS) (ELS)
governments build
Andreas Schleicher
Canberra, 13-14 May 2010
greater labour mobility . strong coalitions
 Work proposals with the business
sector and social
Are Balancing occupation-specific Pillar 4generic skills [ELS]
 skills Pillar 3 and investors and find
(EDU) (EDU and
developed demands in technology-rich environments [PIAAC]
 Skill in LEED) sustainable
effective, equitabl approaches to who
 Skill demands of innovative firms [CERI]
e, efficient and should pay for
sustainable ways? in health and green jobs [ELS]when, where
 Skill demands what,
and how much?
 Economic and social outcomes of skills [PIAAC, CERI] .

6. 6
6 Pillarwork programme with four pillars
A 2: Right mix of skills learned and taught?
 Issues
How Increasingly complex and dynamic labour-markets mix of
 do we identify and Is the right
OECD Skills Strategy
assess essentialwith depreciation of domain-specific knowledge
combined skills skills being taught
for strong, sustainable to upgrade their skills learned and can
require individuals and more regularly
and balanced to changing patterns of work and learning find
leading growth employers
and what are the workers with the
factors driving the aggregate skill mismatches can they need?
 Individual and
skills be
evolution of skill with ineffective signalling of labour market
associated
demands to education providers and individuals but can
demand? Pillar 1 Pillar 2 How can
also be the consequence
(EDU and ELS) of a lack of responsivenessbuild
(ELS)
governments on
Andreas Schleicher
Canberra, 13-14 May 2010
the part of education and training providers coalitions
strong
 Age training gaps, gender gaps
with the business
sector and social
 Work proposals (EDU)
Pillar 3 Pillar 4
Are skills investors and find
(EDU and
developed in
 Prevalence and consequences of skills mismatch [EDU/ELS]
LEED) sustainable
effective, equitabl approaches to who
Improving the utilisation of human capital [ELS]
e, efficient and should pay for

sustainable ways? obsolesence among displaced workers [ELS]
 Preventing skill what, when, where
 Understanding the impact of age on skills [ELS] . how much?
and

7. Pillar 3: Are skills developed in effective,
7
7 A work programme with four pillars
equitable and sustainable ways
 Issues
How Establishing efficient and fair ways ofIs the right mix of
do we identify and lifelong and
OECD Skills Strategy

assess essential skills and ensuring responsiveness, quality
lifewide learning, skills being taught
for strong, sustainable provision
and flexibility in and learned and can
and balanced growth
 Incentive systems and support structures employers find
to enhancing
skills through the formal educational system, in with the
and what are the workers the
factors driving the through incentives addressed at theneed?
work-place or skills they
general population and training
evolution of skill
 Establishing an appropriate mix of academic and
demand? Pillar 2
vocational learningand ELS) that reflect student How can
Pillar 1
(EDU in ways (ELS)
preferences and employers’ needs, withgovernments build
Andreas Schleicher
Canberra, 13-14 May 2010
vocational
training providing immediate employability, but coalitions
strong also basic
with the business
transferable skills to support occupational mobility
sector and social
 Work proposals Pillar 3
Are skills Pillar 4
investors and find
(EDU) (EDU and
developedlearning organisations [CERI]
 New in
LEED) sustainable
Vocational education and training [EDU] approaches to who
effective, equitabl

e, efficient in access and educational mobility [PIAAC, PISA] for
 Equity and should pay
sustainable ways? skill potential of immigrants [ELS] when, where
 Utilising the what,
 Developing innovation oriented skills [CERI] . and how much?

8. Pillar 4: Who should pay for what, when,
8
8 A work programme with four pillars
where and how much?
 Issues
How Building new and
do we identify relationships, networks and coalitions
Is the right mix of
OECD Skills Strategy

assess essential skills
between learners, providers, governments, taught
skills being
for strong, sustainable and learned and can
businesses, social investors and innovators that find
and balanced growth employers
bring together the legitimacy, innovation, and the
and what are the workers with
resources that are needed to make lifelong learning
factors driving the skills they need?
evolution of skill
a reality for all
demand? Pillar 2
to encourage both employers and can How
Pillar 1
 Finding ways (EDU and ELS) (ELS)
governments build
Andreas Schleicher
Canberra, 13-14 May 2010
students to participate in workplace training, and
strong coalitions
ensuring that such training is of good quality, with
with the business
effective quality assurance and contractualand social
Pillar 3 Pillar 4
sector
Are skills investors and find
frameworks for (EDU)
developed in apprentices and
(EDU
sustainable
LEED)
effective, equitabl
 Mobilising time and money approaches to who
e, efficient and should pay for
Work proposals
 sustainable ways? what, when, where
 Joining up local skill strategies . and how much?

9. 9
9 Outcomes
 A Skills Strategy for OECD countries
OECD Skills Strategy
 An integrated work programme on skills across the
entire organisation
 A regularly published OECD Skills Outlook that,
with a combination of comparative analysis and
country studies, will:
 Trace the development of skills, through their utilisation in
labour markets, how they feed into better jobs, higher
Andreas Schleicher
Canberra, 13-14 May 2010
productivity, and ultimately better economic and social
outcomes
 Customise policy insights from comparative analysis and peer
learning so that they are useful in national policy contexts
 Provide a catalyst for policy discourse
on national skill strategies
 Contribute to building strategic partnerships for successful
policy implementation
 All proposals contingent on CPF resources .

10. 10
10
PIAAC
PIAAC
OECD Programme for the International
Assessment of Adult Competencies
How is PIAAC organised ?
How does PIAAC work ?
What will PIAAC tell us ?
State of play

11. 11
11
PIAAC
PIAAC
OECD Programme for the International
Assessment of Adult Competencies
How is PIAAC organised ?
How does PIAAC work ?
What will PIAAC tell us ?
State of play

12.  PIAAC will…
12
12
 in each country interview 5000 adults aged 16-65 in
their homes and test their skills
collect information on the antecedents, outcomes and
OECD Skills Strategy

contexts of skill development and use
… in order to…
 provide a comprehensive assessment
of the human capital stock
– For high performers, show to what extent they are able to apply their
skills to solve challenging problems requiring mastery of technology
– For those with low literacy, show to what extent their problem is with
performing basic reading functions or with understanding and application
Andreas Schleicher
Canberra, 13-14 May 2010
 show to what extent skills held by individuals are
actually used at work and identify the role skills play
in improving labour market prospects of at-risk
populations
 improve understanding of the labour market and social
returns to education and training
 help governments better understand how education
and training systems can nurture these skills .

13. 13
13 A collaboration among
 Country participation
 countries and sectors
building on the PISA model
 Australia
 A Board of Participating Countries brings together
Austria
 education and labour ministries and oversees the
OECD Skills Strategy
development and implementation of PIAAC
 Belgium
 An international consortium of leading institutions
Canada
 develops the instruments and survey procedures
 National project teams mount the surveys and
 Chile
collect the data
 Czech Republic
 A lean management model
Denmark
 OECD Secretariat co-ordinates the work
and guides analysis and reporting
Andreas Schleicher
Canberra, 13-14 May 2010
 Estonia
– Share of spending at OECD Secretariat less than a quarter of
 Finland
the international costs
 A sustainable approach to financing
 France
 46% of internat. costs shared equally among countries,
 Germany
rest distributed in accordance with OECD scale
– in order to balance countries’ ‘capacity to pay’ with the fact
 Hungary
that much of the international development costs for PIAAC
 Ireland
is driven by factors unrelated to either the number of
countries participating or to the size of their economies .
 Italy

14. 14
14
PIAAC
PIAAC
OECD Programme for the International
Assessment of Adult Competencies
How is PIAAC organised ?
How does PIAAC work ?
What will PIAAC tell us ?
State of play

15. 15
15 Key elements of PIAAC:
A multi-cycle international survey of adult skills
Measures of adult Measures of key
OECD Skills Strategy
competencies social and economic
 Test-based measures in areas outcomes
where methodologies exist  Labour-market experience
 Indirect measures in other , status and
areas that support PIAAC‘s transitions, earnings, adult
policy objectives learning, social outcomes
Surveyed: Surveyed:
individuals individuals
Assessment: Assessment:
direct and indirect
Andreas Schleicher
Canberra, 13-14 May 2010
indirect
Surveyed: Surveyed:
individuals individuals
Measures of the A background
Assessment: Assessment:
utilisation of indirect, indirect questionnaire
competencies e.g. JRA  To contextualise and
analyse determinants of
at the workplace competencies, their
 Through a development, and their
job-requirement survey use

16. 16
16
PIAAC
PIAAC
OECD Programme for the International
Assessment of Adult Competencies
How is PIAAC organised ?
How does PIAAC work ?
What will PIAAC tell us ?
State of play

17. x High potential policy impact
17
•Description of the population with low skills,of OECD countries groups
17 The competitive advantages or special population
such as immigrants, andin can and do competition rolejobs wins outcomes.
•To whatMust haves global skills play alabour-market the
extent the in levelling
interrelationships with for Quick
•What is playing field, bothin explaining providing high quality education
the role of skills in terms of differences in labour-market
outcomes between givingthe price native-born and termsDo skill supply
to all skills andAdultand of these skills their of skill
•Where does initial competencies workers?
•Labour force and immigranteducation leave us inareto those who are
access to higher education crucial to
OECD Skills Strategy
able their on aggregate as well as schooling, irrespective
where continue their individual
differences inand motivated to of increasing was acquired? Do immigrants
understand dependdifferent forms of organisation of the education
with the perspectivehuman capital global competition for jobs
receiveup intheirskill hierarchy. PIAAC social outcomesabout similar
economic and
higher differentsocial background? can tellobservationally which
of the returns to these skills than us more
and training system?
native-born workers? well do intergenerational mobility will also be
cognitive•Further analysis onabouteducational training systems skill
and the rapid growth in the impact attainment translated
•Has non-cognitive skills are important
How learn education and of age on skills and
•What can we the JRA measurement of in particular. do in
•PIAAC can provide how has thisinsights into the what people and the
possible with in generating the required competencies for
into better foundation skills?
deliver
utilisation, systematic changed thoserecent decades
risks and rewards
over observed in earlier
their jobs results compare to and economies, as well
•How do the
skills in the labour market, for individuals (separating biological as for
•Is education levers the labour-market prospects of those as on in
policyor skillsassociateddo people gain and lose skillsat risk
schooling (PISA)? immigrantsthis
specific effects of such as How with
Improving mismatch mostly confined to youth early they
subgroups aging from differences
their professional careers and subsequentlyin technology-rich of
Low•How well can adults solve problems in the experiences High feasibility
feasibility/costly
grow older? diminishes? Is mismatch
cohorts over time)?doesinto large earningspopulations Have
important and will changes in the this structurethe mobility and
environments?translateintergenerational incidence and
•How doesEquity and age relate to of penalties?
it How
Andreas Schleicher
Canberra, 13-14 May 2010
intensity such systems in OECD countries shown sufficient
aspects of using information technology in and outside work
education and trainingas educational attainment feed through to the
future talent pool? Ageing and skills
adaptability in the face of changing skill demands or are skills
mismatches endemic? How do task-based learning (JRA) and job-related
Capitalising on technology-rich environments
training relate to the length of the working life? (but keep in mind that labour-
market outcomes and training are snapshots in time whereas the measured skills are accumulated over
the lifespan) What levels of skills do individuals and
countries demonstrate, and how do
these relate to educational attainment?
Money pits Low-hanging fruits
…
Reasonable potential for policy (Skip examples)

18. 18
18 The qualifications we acquired don’t tell us
everything about the skills we have
Mean problem solving1,2 scores on a scale with range 0-500 points, by level of educational
attainment, populations aged 16-65, 2003
OECD Skills Strategy
500
450
400
350
300
250
200
Andreas Schleicher
Canberra, 13-14 May 2010
150
1 – less than upper secondary
100 2 – upper secondary
50 3 – post-secondary/non-tertiary
4 – tertiary education
0
1 2 3 4 1 2 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4
Norway Switzerland Canada Bermuda Italy
Source: International Adult Literacy and Life Skills Study (ALLS)

19. 19
19 Skill make a difference for labour market outcomes
The probabilities of unemployed adults aged 16 to 65 to exit unemployment over a 52 week period, by low
(Levels 1 and 2) and medium to high (Levels 3 and 4/5) skills, document scale, 2003
OECD Skills Strategy
Probability
1.0
0.8
0.6
Andreas Schleicher
Canberra, 13-14 May 2010
0.4
High skills
(Levels 3, 4 and 5)
0.2
Low skills
0.0 (Levels 1 and 2)
0 4 8 12 16 20 24 28 32 36 40 44 48 5
Weeks
Source: International Adult Literacy and Life Skills Study (ALLS)

20. 20
20
PIAAC
PIAAC
OECD Programme for the International
Assessment of Adult Competencies
How is PIAAC organised ?
How does PIAAC work ?
What will PIAAC tell us ?
State of play

21. 21
21 State of play
 PIAAC is now at a critical juncture of moving
from an international strategy towards
OECD Skills Strategy
national implementation
 Where we are…
– PIAAC strategy agreed among countries
– International project consortium in place
– Agreement on the scope of the initial report and a
discussion on further analytic work
Andreas Schleicher
Canberra, 13-14 May 2010
– Full pilot in all countries, majority of countries now in the
field (1400 respondents, 2010),
… and what remains ahead
– Review of field trial results and development of
main data collection instruments
– Main data collection (2011/2012)
– Public release of results (2013) .

22. Andreas Schleicher
Canberra, 13-14 May 2010 OECD Skills Strategy 22
22
Thank you !