Do countries have to choose between more educated or better-educated children?
by Francesco Avvisati Analyst, Directorate for Education and Skills While Joana, a 15-year-old girl from Fortaleza in Brazil, was sitting the PISA test in 2015, her cousin, also 15 but living in the countryside, was busy working in the family business. In fact, by the time they turn 15, many adolescents in low- and middle-income countries are no longer enrolled in school (or have never been), particularly in sub-Saharan Africa and South and West Asia . But soon, those children may be able to sit a PISA test specifically designed for out-of-school youth . Increasing the educational attainment of young adults has been the focus of much effort over recent decades. But we all know that having children spend more time in school does not guarantee that every student will learn. For this reason, the fourth Sustainable Development Goal (SDG4) , which defines the new global agenda for education and was adopted by the United Nations in September 2015, emphasises improvements in the quality of ed...