OECD Economics Department Working Papers

ISSN :
1815-1973 (online)
DOI :
10.1787/18151973
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Working papers from the Economics Department of the OECD that cover the full range of the Department’s work including the economic situation, policy analysis and projections; fiscal policy, public expenditure and taxation; and structural issues including ageing, growth and productivity, migration, environment, human capital, housing, trade and investment, labour markets, regulatory reform, competition, health, and other issues.
 

Improving Educational Outcomes in Slovenia You or your institution have access to this content

Authors:
Mehmet Eris1
Author Affiliations
  • 1: OECD, France

Publication Date
13 Dec 2011
Bibliographic information
No.:
915
Pages
44
DOI
10.1787/5kg0prg9b1g8-en

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Overall, the education system fares well by international comparison. Slovenia has one of the highest shares of the population aged 25 to 64 to have completed at least upper secondary education, and ranks high in international educational achievement tests. Nevertheless, in some areas, reforms could significantly improve performance and equip the labour force with the skills most in demand in a rapidly changing economy. In particular, low student-teacher ratios, small class sizes, and a high share of non-teaching staff suggest that there is room for improving spending efficiency. Rationalising teaching and non-teaching staff would also free up valuable public resources that could be redirected towards underfunded aspects of the education system. Low enrolment rates in short vocational education programmes and in certain higher education fields, such as science and engineering, contribute to a skill deficit in some occupations, underlining the need to make such programmes more attractive. At the tertiary level, completion rates and spending per student are low by international standards, and students take too long to complete their studies. The combination of low student fees and access to generous financial support, coupled with the preferential treatment of student work until recently, creates "fake students"; it also provides genuine students with an incentive to remain in the tertiary education system too long. Introducing universal tuition fees along with loans with income-contingent repayment would help to address such issues. This Working Paper relates to the 2011 Economic Survey of Slovenia (www.oecd.org/eco/surveys/Slovenia).
Keywords:
tuition fees, tertiary education, student work, PISA, vocational and technical education, early childhood education, income-contingent loans
JEL Classification:
  • I20: Health, Education, and Welfare / Education and Research Institutions / General
  • I21: Health, Education, and Welfare / Education and Research Institutions / Analysis of Education
  • I22: Health, Education, and Welfare / Education and Research Institutions / Educational Finance
  • I23: Health, Education, and Welfare / Education and Research Institutions / Higher Education and Research Institutions
  • I24: Health, Education, and Welfare / Education and Research Institutions / Education and Inequality
  • I28: Health, Education, and Welfare / Education and Research Institutions / Government Policy