Foreword

Policy making has always been a matter of making choices, managing trade-offs and balancing multiple goals and priorities to make complex decisions with budgetary implications. But against this background, the past few years have seen an unprecedented surge in the number of new priorities facing policy makers. While ageing populations and the impact of changing demographics on social and health public expenditure is a well-established trend, the past two decades have also seen the emergence of digitalisation and climate change as key areas of interest and intervention for public policy and investment.

But beyond these deep structural megatrends, a number of unanticipated external shocks in recent years (or months) have heightened the pressure on and competition for public budgets. The COVID-19 pandemic has strained healthcare budgets and put stress on economies world wide. As countries emerge from the pandemic, the recovery in the economy, but also in the health or education sectors will require significant budgetary resources. Meanwhile, the urgency of the green transition is growing, and soaring energy prices in the context of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine call for a fast-track energy transition in OECD countries, especially those based in Europe. But this volatile and uncertain geopolitical situation is also having an impact on the global economy at large, calling for governments to mitigate negative impacts, as well as on defence expenditure in several OECD countries.

In this context, governments face mounting pressure to enhance the efficiency of their public spending to be able to address these different priorities, and they will be required to make complex budgetary decisions. Education will be no exception.

There is a strong case for public investment in education as high-quality education leads to a range of economic outcomes, including higher productivity, innovation and long-term economic growth, as well as broader social outcomes for both individuals and society, such as improved quality of life and citizenship, and enhanced resilience of individuals and societies in front of emergencies. Resilient and equitable education systems are a cornerstone for more inclusive and equitable societies that can adapt to change, respond proactively to emerging challenges and ensure that no one is left behind. But while sustained high-quality education is a long-term investment in the knowledge, skills and competencies that will continue to enable individuals and societies to thrive and recover from disruptions, education ministries will nevertheless need to rethink the way they invest in education to make their investments smarter and ensure that education systems deliver greater value for money.

This publication describes and emphasises the wealth of economic returns and broader social outcomes derived from high-quality education. Indeed, beyond economic benefits, high-quality education pays off for individuals, communities and societies in significant and diverse ways. But investing in quality education that translates into better and more relevant skills requires a smart use of a range of policy levers that can help bring about greater value from the money invested in education. This publication highlights in particular the importance of governing and distributing school funding efficiently for seizing the benefits of education investments; using school funding to achieve equity alongside greater efficiency; and planning, monitoring and evaluating the use of school funding and its efficiency.

In order to make smarter investment decisions, enhanced collaboration between ministries of finance and ministries of education is ever more critical, particularly in times of fiscal tightening and scrutiny. This report builds on the background notes for, and discussions at, the High-Level Seminar on Value for Money in Post-COVID Education organised on 16 February 2022 by the OECD Directorate for Education and Skills and the OECD Economics Department, in co-operation with the French Ministry in charge of Education and the French Ministry in charge of Finance. The seminar brought together senior representatives of ministries of finance and education across the OECD in a dialogue around key themes in the area of educational efficiency and funding for more equitable and inclusive education. The seminar and this report have built upon OECD expertise on structural growth determinants at the OECD Economics Department, and various work streams from the Directorate for Education and Skills, more specifically on the resourcing of school education (developed as part of the OECD School Resources Reviews), effective public budgeting, and education outcomes’ measurement. In particular, the report draws on data from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and the Survey of Adult Skills, a product of the OECD Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC), as well as on internationally comparable education indicators published in Education at a Glance.

This report would not have been possible without the leadership and generous support from the French Ministry in charge of Education, which supported the High-Level Seminar underpinning its content. The background notes prepared for the seminar that underpin this report have also benefitted from valuable suggestions from government officials at the French Ministry in charge of Education and Ministry in charge of Finance. The OECD expresses its gratitude for this leadership and support by the French authorities, including the Minister of Education who spoke at the Seminar.

The authors wish to thank the OECD Secretary General Mathias Cormann, Deputy Secretary General Ulrik Vestergaard Knudsen, Chief-Economist Laurence Boone, as well as Luiz de Mello and Andreas Schleicher (respectively Directors of the Economics Department Policy Studies Branch and the Directorate for Education and Skills) for the strategic oversight of the High-Level Seminar and for their contributions to its discussions and foreword. The development of this report was guided by Paulo Santiago (Head of the Policy Advice and Implementation Division on the Directorate for Education and Skills’ side) and David Turner (Head of the Macro-economic Analysis Division on the Economics Department’s side), and led by Karine Tremblay (Senior Analyst in the Directorate for Education and Skills).

Karine Tremblay prepared the Overview of this report and provided guidance and extensive comments for all chapters. Chapter 1 was co-authored by Balázs Egert and Christine de la Maisonneuve (respectively Senior Economist and Economist in the Economics Department). Andreea Minea-Pic (Analyst in the Directorate for Education and Skills) authored Chapter 2. Thomas Radinger (Analyst in the Directorate for Education and Skills) is the lead author of Chapters 3 and 4, with input from Luka Boeskens (Analyst in the Directorate for Education and Skills), who was also the lead author of Chapter 5. The authors also want to acknowledge colleagues from the Directorate for Education and Skills for their valuable input for various report analyses, namely Lucie Cerna, Diana Toledo Figueroa, Stéphanie Jamet and Miyako Ikeda. The chapters also benefitted from comments, contributions and feedback provided by Paulo Santiago, David Turner, Balázs Egert and Christine de la Maisonneuve. Daiana Torres Lima co-ordinated the report production and administrative aspects, with support from Rachel Linden and Clara Young for report production, editing and communications, alongside Katharina Meyer in the editorial process.

Last, but not least, the authors also express their gratitude to all participants of the High-Level Seminar on Value for Money in Post-COVID Education on 16 February 2022 for their comments and input during and after the Seminar.