Short-Term Labour Market Outlook and Key Challenges in G20 Countries

[Excerpt] The latest available forecasts from the IMF and the OECD point to a weak uptick in economic activity in 2013 and 2014. This will continue to hold back short-term employment growth and hinder progress towards the medium-term objective of restoring the employment to working-age population ratio prevailing before the crisis. Persistently high and mainly cyclical unemployment in several G20 countries is heightening the risks of labour market exclusion and structural unemployment. In over half of countries, the share of longterm unemployment in total unemployment remains above its pre-crisis level. Overall slower economic growth in emerging economies in the last 12 months is weighing on the growth of rewarding and productive formal employment and on the pace of decline in working poverty and underemployment. The situation calls for strong and well-designed employment, labour and social protection policies applied in conjunction with supportive macroeconomic policy mixes to address the underlying demand and supply conditions of each economy. Only a few emerging and advanced countries, applying different policy mixes, have sustained or raised employment levels and seen a decline in unemployment and underemployment. In a majority of G20 countries labour market conditions have either improved only marginally or not improved and deteriorated, at times significantly so. This bears heavily on the underlying strength of the recovery

Monitoring response to hepatitis B and C in EU/EEA: testing policies, availability of data on care cascade and chronic viral hepatitis-related mortality – results from two surveys (2016)

Objectives: The World Health Organization (WHO) developed a European Regional Action Plan (EAP) to fast-track action towards the goal of eliminating viral hepatitis. Robust monitoring is essential to assess national programme performance. The purpose of this study was to assess the availability of selected monitoring data sources in European Union/European Economic Area (EU/EEA) Member States (MS). Methods: Availability of data sources at EU/EEA level was assessed using two surveys distributed to 31 EU/EEA MS in 2016. The two surveys covered (A) availability of policy documents on testing; testing practices and monitoring; monitoring of diagnosis and treatment initiation, and; (B) availability of data on mortality attributable to chronic viral hepatitis. Results: Just over two-thirds of EU/EEA MS responded to the surveys. 86% (18/21) reported national testing guidance covering HBV, and 81% (17/21) covering HCV; while 33% (7/21) and 38% (8/21) of countries, respectively, monitored the number of tests performed. 71% (15/21) of countries monitored the number of chronic HBV cases diagnosed and 33% (7/21) the number of people treated. Corresponding figures for HCV were 48% (10/21) and 57% (12/21). 27% (6/22) of countries reported availability of data on mortality attributable to chronic viral hepatitis. Conclusions: The results of this study suggest that sources of information in EU/EEA Member States to monitor the progress towards the EAP milestones and targets related to viral hepatitis diagnosis, cascade of care and attributable mortality are limited. Our analysis should raise awareness among EU/EEA policy makers and stimulate higher prioritisation of efforts to improve the monitoring of national viral hepatitis programmes

Supporting new teachers

In many countries, less experienced teachers (those with less than five years’ teaching experience) are more likely to work in challenging schools and less likely to report confidence in their teaching abilities than more experienced teachers. Most countries have activities in place aimed at preparing teachers for work, such as induction and mentoring programmes. Approximately 44% of teachers work in schools where principals report that all new teachers have access to formal induction programmes; 76% work in schools with access to informal induction; and 22% work in schools that only have programmes for teachers new to teaching. Fewer teachers report participation in induction and mentoring programmes than principals report the existence of such programmes

Are disadvantaged students given equal opportunities to learn mathematics?

Some 65% of socio-economically advantaged students reported that they know well or have often heard of the concept of quadratic function, on average across OECD countries; but only 43% of disadvantaged students so reported. On average across OECD countries, the 20% of students who are most exposed to pure mathematics tasks (equations) score, on the PISA mathematics test, the equivalent of almost two school years ahead of the 20% of students who are least exposed. Exposure to simple applied mathematics tasks is much less strongly associated with better performance. About 19% of the performance difference between socio-economically advantaged and disadvantaged students can be attributed to differences in familiarity with mathematics. In Austria and Korea, more than  30% of the performance gap between these two groups of students is related to differences in familiarity with mathematics. In other words, there are clear indications that disadvantaged students systematically receive mathematics instruction of lower quality than advantaged students

School Improvement Through Strong Leadership

According to the OECD Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS), principals, on average, report frequently engaging in a number of activities that are consistent with instructional leadership. However, this is not the case in every country and large proportions of them report that their training did not include any instructional leadership training or course. Although continuous professional development could help fill those gaps, many school leaders report a number of obstacles preventing them from taking part in such learning, including a lack of support and opportunities, and personal and professional obstacles

What are the benefits from early childhood education?

Early childhood education and care programmes (ECEC) have become more accessible in recent years, with high enrolment rates in both early childhood educational development and preprimary education. The educational results of students at the age of 15 may be partially explained by attendance at pre-primary education, which sharply decreases the likelihood of low performance in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). Pre-primary education can play a strong role in promoting equality at an early age, particularly by targeting disadvantaged groups such as first- and second-generation immigrants. Assuring and monitoring the quality of programmes is key to guaranteeing that early childhood education and care has a positive impact on both equity and performance in education

Embedding professional development in schools for teacher success

Teachers report participating in more non-school than school embedded professional development (i.e. professional development that is grounded in teachers daily professional practices). Participation in non-school and school embedded professional development varies greatly between countries. Teachers report more positive impacts on their classroom teaching from school than non-school embedded professional development

What helps teachers feel valued and satisfied with their jobs?

Less than one in three teachers across countries participating in the Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) 2013 believes that the teaching profession is valued by society. Nevertheless, the great majority of teachers in all surveyed countries are happy with their jobs. Challenging classrooms with large proportions of students with behavioural problems and the perception that appraisals and feedback are done simply as administrative tasks are among factors that tend to lower job satisfaction. Collaboration between teachers and positive teacher-student relationships, on the other hand, are among factors that can boost teacher job satisfaction

Global competency for an inclusive world

Global Competence includes the acquisition of in-depth knowledge and understanding of global and intercultural issues; the ability to learn from and live with people from diverse backgrounds; and the attitudes and values necessary to interact respectfully with others. The driving ideas are that global trends are complex and require careful investigation, that cross-cultural engagement should balance clear communication with sensitivity to multiple perspectives and that global competence should equip young people not just to understand but to act. These objectives already feature in the curricula of many countries. But they now need further evolution, in response to changing imperatives. The greatest of these is the need to find a new concept of growth. This may not be a quantifiable concept, based solely on maximising economic gains, but a multidimensional concept that includes care for the environment and social harmony, as well as acceptable levels of security, health, and education. It will cover quantitative and qualitative indicators, including subjective well-being and quality jobs. It will ensure that the benefits of growth are fairly shared across society

Improving school climate and students’ opportunities to learn

Almost one in three teachers across countries participating in the 2013 Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) reports having more than 10% of potentially disruptive students with behaviour problems in their classes. Teachers with more than one in ten students with behaviour problems spend almost twice as much time keeping order in the classroom than their peers with less than 10% of such students in their class. Behaviour issues such as intimidation or verbal abuse among students are associated with student absenteeism. Schools that promote participation of students, teachers and parents in school decisions, combined with a culture of shared responsibility and mutual support, tend to have lower incidence of student misbehaviour