Countries in Europe and Central Asia have achieved remarkable success in providing universal access to education. The region has high enrollment rates, with students completing an average of 12.6 years of primary and secondary school education, just shy of the maximum of 14 years. More importantly, 40% of young people have completed university, which is higher than the global average of 31%.
The number of registrants is large, but the quality is declining.
Despite high access and attainment levels, academic performance in the region is declining. Nowhere is this more evident than in the decline in scores on common tests such as the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), which assesses the abilities of 15-year-olds around the world. Over the past decade, mathematics performance in Europe and Central Asia has plummeted by an amount equivalent to losing a year of schooling. These trends are particularly worrying because they jeopardize the region’s future workforce and economic potential.
As we point out in the latest ECA Economic Update, this downward trend in quality will have dire consequences. Without immediate action to reverse decline, especially in higher education, countries in the region will not achieve their aspirations to reach high-income status in the next generation or two.
education dilemma
Among the factors behind the decline in the quality of education are weak social pressure for more and better investment in education, insufficient spending on school infrastructure, inadequate teacher training, outdated Examples include curriculum. Many schools in Europe and Central Asia lack access to modern resources such as laboratories and digital learning tools. Limited opportunities for appropriate professional development for teachers perpetuate traditional lecture-based teaching methods that often fail to engage students and foster critical thinking skills.
One of the most pressing issues is the effectiveness of vocational education and training (VET). Almost 45% of high school students in the region, and in some countries 80%, are introduced to VET early in their studies. VET programs are often touted as a viable means of increasing employability, particularly for students from disadvantaged backgrounds, but evidence suggests a more problematic reality. Despite their ambitions, these programs often fail to equip students with the skills they need to succeed in a rapidly evolving job market. This disconnect raises concerns about the effectiveness and long-term impact of such programs in promoting upward mobility and reducing inequality.
At the university level, the picture is even bleaker. The quality of higher education is lower than what would be expected given the quality of basic education in the region (see chart). Earning a degree takes precedence over gaining knowledge and skills. In the Times Higher Education World Rankings, only one university in Europe and Central Asia is in the top 100, and only nine in the top 500. “Academic capture,” where universities prioritize political and business interests over academic excellence, inadequate funding, a proliferation of higher education institutions, outdated curricula, and a lack of modern infrastructure are contributing to the decline in the quality of higher education. This is the main reason.
The poor quality of higher education is particularly worrying for middle-income regions such as Europe and Central Asia. To achieve high-income status, countries need to move from technology adoption to innovation-driven growth models. To achieve this, each country needs world-class higher education institutions. The poor quality of university education poses an existential threat to the region’s long-term growth prospects, as people with higher education are more likely to become innovators.
The quality of higher education in Europe and Central Asia is low compared to the quality of basic education.
Source: Demirgüç-Kunt and Torre (2022). World Bank Human Capital Index Database.
Note: This graph plots the quality of higher education (vertical axis) against the quality of basic education (horizontal axis) for all countries with available data. The gray line shows the prediction of the quality of higher education conditional on the quality of basic education. The horizontal dashed line indicates the average quality of basic education in the region, and the vertical dashed line indicates the average quality of tertiary education. The quality of basic education is proxied by the country’s average harmonized test score (HLO score) from the World Bank’s Human Capital Index database. The quality of higher education is represented by the sum of university quality scores (Demirgüç-Kunt and Torre 2022).
What can you do?
There are cost-effective interventions to reverse the decline in the quality of basic education. This includes providing information about the education system to parents, principals, teachers and students. Supporting teachers with enhanced training and structured pedagogies. It targets instruction at the appropriate level, that is, instruction by learning level rather than grade level. It is essential to improve the prestige of the teaching profession and to recruit younger, more motivated teachers. However, stronger reforms may be needed, including an overhaul of the VET system. This should include raising the selection age and emphasizing closer collaboration between industry and educational institutions. If the VET system fails to provide students with the skills they need in a dynamic labor market, it would be better to completely rethink its scale and format.
Improving the quality of higher education can only be achieved through improved management, emphasis on merit, and increased accountability. These include increased reliance on competitive grants, increased competition for students and faculty, and regular evaluation. As universities become more autonomous and face more competition, their productivity also increases. Integrating universities in countries where research institutes and universities are separate will help bring research closer to education and improve quality.
A quality education system, especially at the tertiary level, is of paramount importance to foster innovation and foster economic growth. The best time to undertake these important reforms in the ECA was 10 to 20 years ago. The next best time is now.
