OECD Skills Strategy Latvia. Parliamentary Committee on Education, Culture and Science. 18 December 2019, Riga, Latvia.

1. OECD SKILLS STRATEGY
LATVIA
Andrew Bell
Head of the Centre for Skills, OECD
Parliamentary Committee on Education, Culture and
Science
OECD Centre for Skills
https://www.oecd.org/skills/centre-for-skills
18 December, Riga

2. 2
WHY DO SKILLS MATTER?

3. 3
Positive social and economic outcomes
difference between share of adults with high and low literacy proficiency, 2012/2015
Skills are important for social well-being
Source: Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC) (2012, 2015).
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
High levels of trust High levels of political
efficacy
Participation in volunteer
activities
Good to excellent health
OECD Average, Unadjusted marginal effect OECD Average, Adjusted marginal effects

4. Skills matter for economic prosperity
Source: Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC) (2012, 2015).
Labour productivity and the use of reading skills at work, PIAAC 2012/2015
Adjusted for literacy and numeracy proficiency
5
Australia
Austria
Canada Chile
Czech Republic
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
Flanders (Belgium)
France
Germany
Greece
Ireland
Italy
Japan
Korea
Lithuania
Netherlands
New Zealand
Norway
Poland
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden
Turkey
United Kingdom
United States
Israel
R² = 0.2123
3.2
3.4
3.6
3.8
4.0
4.2
4.4
4.6
2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9 3
Labour productivity
(log)
Mean use of reading skills at work

5. Mega trends are changing and increasing the
skills needed for success in work and life
GLOBALISATION TECHNOLOGICAL
CHANGE
DEMOGRAPHIC
CHANGE
Rapid development of
new technologies
Emergence of new
forms of work
Expansion of sources
of learning, especially
online
More integrated world
economy than ever
Emergence of global
value chains, offshoring
and outsourcing
Increased vulnerability
of some workers
Large expected
decline in working-
age population
Important
reallocations towards
care services
Need to ensure youth
have the right skills

6. The impact of these megatrends
is already evident
Job polarisation in the past two decades
%-point change share of total employment, 1995-2015
Source: OECD(2017), Employment Outlook 2017.
7
-15
-10
-5
0
5
10
Southern
Europe
Northern
Europe
Western
Europe
Total North America Japan Central Europe
Low skill Middle skill High skill

7. 0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
%
Source: Nedelkoska and Quintini (2018)
Jobs at risk of Automation
Share of jobs at HIGH RISK (>70%) of automation and at SIGNIFICANT RISK (50-70%)
Many jobs are at risk of
being automated
8
14%
32%

8. 8
More and more, people of all skills levels
will need to upskill and reskill
Source: OECD (2016), Skills Matter: Further Results from the Survey of Adult Skills.
OECD workers reporting the need for further training for their job
Share of total workers, by education level, 2012/2015
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Lower
secondary or
less
Upper
secondary
Post-secondary,
non-tertiary
Tertiary –
professional
degree
Tertiary –
bachelor
degree
Tertiary – master
/ research
degree
Highly digital
environment
Less digital
environment
10

9. 11
WHAT IS THE OECD SKILLS STRATEGY

10. 10
OECD Skills Strategy 2019
13

11. 37
Employing a whole-of-government and whole-of-society
approach for OECD Skills Strategy projects
Directorate for
Education and Skills
Economics Department
Directorate for
Employment, Labour
and Social Affairs
Directorate for Science,
Technology and
Innovation
Centre for Tax Policy
and Administration
Local Employment, Skills
and Social Inclusion
OECD National project team
OECD Skills Strategy Latvia
Assessment and Recommendations
OECD Centre for Skills Ministry of Education
and Science
Ministry of Economics
Ministry of Welfare
And more…
Cross-sectoral
Coordination Centre
Employers’
Confederation of Latvia
Latvian Confederation
of Free Trade Unions.

12. Engaging stakeholders in several workshops and
meetings
Assessment Workshop
February 2019
Skills Strategy Seminar
September 2018
Good Practices Workshop
May 2019

13. Q3-Q4 2018
Q1-Q2 2019
Q3 2019 Q4 2019 Q1 2020 Q2 2020 Q3 2020
Projects Milestones and Timeline
DiagnosticPhaseActionphase
Foresight workshop
Reflect upon
current and future
scenarios for Latvia
Drafting of report
Review draft
outline report
Review full draft
Approve final
version
Public event
12-14 December
2019
Launch Diagnostic
report
Prioritisation
Workshop
Discuss aim, policy
priorities, the
overall framework
and structure of
the Strategy 2021-
2027 document
Skills strategy
seminar
Data analysis
Assessment
workshop
Good practices
workshop
Drafting of report
Draft report
Review full draft
Approve final
version
Public event
Launch of Action
Report – strategic
guidance for the
medium-term
education and skills
strategy 2021-2027
Raise public
awareness
Action Plan
Workshop
Elaborate the
strategy
document
(rationale,
indicators, tasks,
timelines,
responsibilities,
funding…)

14. 14
Skills Strategy Dashboard:
Developing relevant skills
Priority 1: Strengthening
the skills outcomes of
students
Priority 2: Fostering a
culture of lifelong
learning

15. 15
Skills Strategy Dashboard:
Using Skills Effectively
Priority 3:
Improving skills
matches in the
labour market
Priority 4: Strengthening the Governance of Skills Systems

16. 16
Priority 1: Strengthening the skills
outcomes of students

17. 17
Skills of students are slightly below the OECD average
400
420
440
460
480
500
520
540
560
Estonia Finland Slovenia Germany Denmark OECD
average
Sweden Czech
Republic
Latvia Lithuania Hungary Slovak
Republic
Score
Mean science score Mean reading score Mean mathematics score
Student performance across all subjects, PISA 2015
Source: PISA 2015 Results (Volume I): Excellence and Equity in Education, OECD (2016)

18. 18
Opportunity 1: Building capacity to improve the
teaching workforce
Recommendations
• Fully Implement the reviewed
teaching standards.
• Establish a separate body to raise
the quality of teachers and
promote the teaching profession.
• Develop schools as learning
organisations.
Key findings: teaching workforce
• almost 80% of lower secondary teachers
in Latvia (strongly) disagree that the
teaching profession is valued in Latvian
society.
• In primary and secondary, 46% of
teachers are over 50-years-old.
Source: OECD (2019), TALIS 2018 Results (Volume I): Teachers and School Leaders as Lifelong
Learners.

19. 19
Opportunity 2: Fostering continuous quality
improvement from ECEC to secondary education
Recommendations
• Review the appraisal
system.
• Strengthen school
evaluation.
• Strengthen system
level monitoring.
Key findings: Low achieving and top performing students in
PISA, 2015
0
5
10
15
20
25
%
Share of top performers in at least one subject (Level 5 or 6)
Share of low achievers in all three subjects (below Level 2)
Source: PISA 2015 Results (Volume I): Excellence and Equity in Education, OECD (2016)

20. 20
Opportunity 3: Improving equity between urban
and rural areas
Recommendations
• Review the school
consolidation process to
strengthen the school
founder's responsibility in
establishing and operating
an efficient school
network.
• Ensure more equal access
to quality ECEC.
Key findings: Student performance in Latvia
according to geographical location, PISA 2015
Source: OECD (2015), Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2015,
www.oecd.org/pisa/.
430
440
450
460
470
480
490
500
510
520
Science Reading Mathematics
Score Total Riga Cities Towns Rural

21. 21
Opportunity 4: Strengthening vocational
education and training (VET)
Recommendations
• Embed career and
learning guidance for
students and their parents
in the education system.
• Monitor drop-outs.
• Mainstream the projects
promoting school leader
training and continue to
implement work-based
learning
Key findings: First-time upper secondary
graduation rates
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
%
Vocational programmes General programmes
Source: OECD, Education at a Glance 2018: OECD Indicators, 2018.

22. 22
Priority 2: Fostering a culture
of lifelong learning

23. Participation rates in adult learning are
relatively low
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
% 2017 2008
Participation rate in adult education or training, 25-64 year-olds, 2017
Source: Eurostat (2018), Education and training statistics (database). 23

24. 24
Opportunity 1: Raising awareness about adult
learning
Recommendations
• Co-ordinate awareness
raising campaigns.
• Make guidance and
counselling services
financially sustainable.
• Improve guidance and
counselling services through
training for guidance
counsellors.
Key findings: Information about adult
learning reaching adults by motivation level
52
96
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Motivated Unmotivated
% Not received any information
Sources: OECD calculations based on Eurostat (2016) Adult Education Survey 2016 (database),
https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/data/database

25. 25
Opportunity 2: Reducing barriers to adult
learning
Recommendations
• Design a sustainable shared-
funding mechanism with the
private sector.
• Encourage employers allow
adults to learn during working
hours.
• Provide complementary
social policies (e.g., targeted
ECEC) to make adult learning
feasible for those with family
responsibilities
Key findings: Latvian business’ commitment in
adult learning is low, 2015
Source: Eurostat (2019) Continuing Vocational Training Survey (2015),
https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/data/database (accessed on 5 August 2019).
41
34
27
16
43
59
67
52
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Recruitment of new
staff combined with
specific training
Internal
reorganisation to
better use existing
skills and
competences
Continuing
vocational training of
current staff
Having a specific
person or unit
responsible for
organising CVT or
having a training plan
or budget including
CVT Total
% Latvia EU average

26. 26
Opportunity 3: Expanding the provision of adult
learning
Recommendations
• Strengthen the management and
pedagogical capacity of the VET
schools to support adult students.
• Promote a strategic role of tertiary
education institutions to engage
adult learners.
Key findings: formal provision of Adult
Learning in VET and tertiary education
institutions
• VECCs lack the management capacity to
assist with adult learners.
• Financial support is not available for
tertiary education students studying part-
time

27. 27
Opportunity 4: Raising the quality of adult
learning
Recommendations
• Work with relevant
stakeholders to define
quality standards,
particularly in non-formal
adult education.
• Consider transferring
responsibility for the
licensing of adult
learning providers from
municipalities to the
state.
Key findings: Employers’ views on aligning training
to skill needs
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
% No alignment Low Fair Full
Source: OECD (2019) Getting Skills Right: Future Ready Adult Learning Systems.

28. 30
Priority 3: Improving skills matches
in the labour market

29. Significant skills mismatches are evident in the Latvian
economy
Skills shortage and surplus, Latvia and EU, 2015
Source: OECD (2018), Skills for Jobs database, www.oecdskillsforjobsdatabase.org.
-0.2
0.0
0.2
0.4
EngineeringandTechnology
EducationandTraining
BusinessandManagement
Communications
MathematicsandScience
ArtsandHumanities
LawandPublicSafety
HealthServices
ManufacturingandProduction
BasicSkills(Content)
SystemsSkills
BasicSkills(Process)
ComplexProblemSolvingSkills
ResourceManagementSkills
SocialSkills
TechnicalSkills
VerbalAbilities
QuantitativeAbilities
ReasoningAbilities
CognitiveAbilities
Memory
AuditoryandSpeechAbilities
PerceptualAbilities
Attentiveness
SensoryAbilities
SpatialAbilities
VisualAbilities
ReactionTimeandSpeedAbilities
PsychomotorAbilities
FineManipulativeAbilities
ControlMovementAbilities
Flexibility,BalanceandCo-ordination
StrengthandFlexibility
PhysicalStrength
Endurance
Knowledge Skills Abilities
Index
Latvia EU average
32

30. 30
Opportunity 1: Strengthening the responsiveness of
the tertiary education system to changing skills demand
Recommendations
• Foster collaboration between
tertiary education institutions
and industry, in updating and
designing curricula.
• Assist employers in pooling the
responsibilities of providing work-
based learning opportunities in
tertiary education.
• Raise awareness about the role
of career guidance in tertiary
education.
Source: Eurostat (2014), Community Innovation Survey,
http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/microdata/community-innovation-survey.
Key findings: Share of enterprises
cooperating with the tertiary education
sector or research institutes, 2014
0
5
10
15
20
25
%

31. 31
Opportunity 2: Retaining talent in Latvia by stimulating sustainable
wage growth and improving working conditions
Recommendations
• Provide financial incentives to
support innovative and
technology-based SMEs, as
well as consulting services to
assist them in technology
adoption.
• Introduce advisory services to
SMEs about high-performance
workplace practices.
• Improving access to social
protections for employees.
Key findings: Low-wage earners as a
proportion of all employees (2014)
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
% Highly-educated All
Source: Eurostat, Low-wage earners as a proportion of all employees (excluding apprentices) by educational
attainment level.

32. 32
Opportunity 3: Facilitating internal mobility and
attracting skilled workers from abroad
Recommendations
• Facilitate internal mobility by
addressing rental housing market
barriers.
• Attract skilled workers from abroad
by developing Latvia’s “smart
migration” policy and increasing the
supply of job-oriented language
training.
Key findings: regional imbalances
and low immigration rates
• Unemployment rate in the Latgale
region is almost four times higher than
in the Riga region, where 80% of all job
vacancies are located.
• migration inflows represented 0.7% of
the resident population in 2018.

33. 37
Priority 4: Strengthening governance
of the skills system

34. Government coordination is strong overall,
but there is room for improvement
Source: Bertelsmann Stiftung (2019), Sustainable Governance Indicators (SGI) 2018, http://www.sgi-
network.org/2018.
Latvia’s performance on inter-ministerial co-ordination
International rankings based on scores given by experts in 36 OECD and EU countries.
1
6
11
16
21
26
31
36
Government office expertise
Government office gatekeeping
Line ministries
Cabinet committees
Ministerial bureaucracy
Informal co-ordination
Latvia OECD
39
best
worst

35. Stakeholder engagement could be
strengthened
Source: Bertelsmann Stiftung (2019), Sustainable Governance Indicators (SGI) 2018, http://www.sgi-
network.org/2018.
Latvia’s performance on stakeholder engagement
International rankings based on scores given by experts in 36 OECD and EU countries
1
6
11
16
21
26
31
36
Latvia OECD
Government consultation with stakeholders
Voter turnout Policy knowledge
Voicing opinion to officials
40
best
worst

36. 36
Opportunity 1: Strengthening strategies and
oversight for skills policy
Recommendations
• Create a comprehensive and
influential education and skills
strategy.
• Ensure effective oversight of the
education and skills strategy by
appointing a whole-of-government
and cross-sectoral body with
decision-making capacity to
oversee the Strategy.
Key findings: strategic planning
• Numerous high-level strategies, lack of
shared and integrated vision for
development and use of skills
• Large number of inter-ministerial and
cross sectoral bodies

37. 37
Opportunity 2: Improving co-operation at different
levels of government and with stakeholders
Recommendations
• Strengthen inter-ministerial co-
ordination of skills policy.
• Strengthen co-ordination between
the state and municipalities on skills
policy.
• Strengthen co-operation on skills
policy at the subnational level.
• Improve stakeholder engagement
with skills policy makers and providers.
Key findings: government
coordination
• civil servants, oversight bodies and
stakeholders might lack capacity
to engage effectively

38. 38
Opportunity 3: Building an integrated monitoring
and information system on skills
Recommendations
• Improve information on learning
participation, expenditure, outcomes
and opportunities.
• Improve the quality and use of skills
needs information.
Key findings: Incomplete and
underutilised data
• Multiple Latvia’s data sources on skills
are under-developed or not easily
accessible for the relevant users

39. 39
Opportunity 4: Raising, targeting and sharing
investments in lifelong learning
Recommendations
• Ensure sufficient, shared and stable
expenditure on lifelong learning.
• Increase the impact of lifelong learning
funding through greater performance-
based funding.
• Ensure equitable funding for lifelong
learning across regions through greater
cost- and needs-based funding of
municipalities.
Key findings: Co-ordinated funding
• Employer and individual expenditure is
relatively low, as is government
expenditure in some areas
• Uneven financial capacity across
regions

40. Thank you!
To discuss OECD’s work on OECD Skills Strategy projects, please contact:
andrew.bell@oecd.org, Head, OECD Centre for Skills
samuel.kim@oecd.oeg, Project Leader, OECD Skills Strategy Projects
To learn more about the OECD’s work on skills visit: www.oecd.org/skills/
OECD SKILLS OUTLOOK 2019
SKILLS AND DIGITALISATION
2019
48