Equity and Equality of Opportunity

Analyses of developments and policies that influence equity have been an underlying priority in much of the OECD educational work. The persistent patterns of inequality have been highlighted, with the increasingly quality of international data permitting analyses relating to many pertinent groups of learners and their educational experiences. OECD analysis has shown that there need be no contradiction between equity and efficiency, and indeed has underlined how damaging to economic as well as social goals is the phenomenon of exclusion and widespread under-achievement. A major international review of equity in education, published in 2007, outlines ten broad policy directions around the design of provision, practices, and resourcing. The charting of the opportunities, outcomes and policies towards different population groups who may well be disadvantaged has been undertaken across the many sectors of education and training, including longstanding work on special educational needs.