A very interesting read, with thanks for putting together.
A glaring observation from these statistics is that the first two % (tertiary education completion rate & early leavers) unfortunately appear to be completely pointless irl. This seems to be the conclusion that’s drawn (or at least that I drew, correctly or not) from when one takes into account the PISA stat.
While university level education completion rate is a ‘marketable’ metric, the fact that the educational level of 15yo students is low probably means that the standards for university admissibility are also quite low (e.g. if Greek 18yos were ‘competing’ against Esthonian or Japanese 18yos for the same university spots, Greeks would obviously not be admitted - with the first % spiraling down..)
It then stands to reason that the quality of tertiary studies is also not very high either (otherwise we wouldn’t have a high tertiary education completion %..), which if correlated with the underpayment of teachers (albeit I’m not sure whether those stats relate to teaches in secondary education or lower or whether they also capture uni level lecturers) tracks.
In any event, a very interesting read as I said + a very good point in the comments re: ‘frontistiria’ (and a great topic to be explored in and of itself in a Vol. 2 perhaps).
The fact that not many students drop out of their education has to do a lot with culture I believe. At the same time it is healthy for someone to reconsider their options and choose wisely without any pressure, so the low percentage of 4% shouldn't necessarily be appraised. Moreover, as we all know R&D budgets have increased across Europe, without any potential ROI so far. I believe we need to stop and reconsider also where all that (mostly public) money should be allocated instead
There is a reason basic schooling became mandatory in the Western world. And it is undoubtedly positive for Greece to have such a low percentage.
Not sure I agree on the ROI point (we do see it in Europe, we are just not as good as marketing it as in the US), but we should definitely increase budgets and also think more out of the box in how we allocate that money.
To be honest, I am tired of my city's university, AUTH, and CERTH spending money unconsciously, when in overall the city hasn't changed. I don't really think there is another institution/organisation/company in the city that attracts so much capital
Submitting applications to get funding for projects just to keep the operations of an organisation alive, without really considering whether the project drives actual value creation in the end. That's the reality of most research (as well as non-profit) organisations
Marketing isn't the only problem. "Hungry" founders and builders is. Increasing budgets won't spark innovation from now on. This has been quite an expensive experiment
I don't agree. We have ample hungry founders and builders in Europe. I don't for a minute buy the narrative that there are not things happening in the continent because I have the numbers and I speak with the changemakers.
Higher budgets allocated to R&D do boost innovation. Yes, we need to reduce bureaucracy and allow for more experimentation. Yes, there are many inefficiencies and problems both on a local and EU level. But Rome was not built in a day, and I actually see improvements in many areas, including on an attitude level - which as you point out, is crucial.
Indeed there are some cases of hungry founders. But as an investor would ask, how competent are those people related to the problem they are solving (e.g. credibility and background), what is their understanding of how the European and global markets of this sector work, how well connected they are to attract talent and investors to pursue their venture and how they communicate their vision, while avoiding burning out from bureaucracy (which nevertheless exists on heavy industries and deep tech, which Europe historically focuses on)
Great article. For anyone interested in how secondary education can be improved read Amanda Ripley’s The Smartest Kids in the World where the journalist follows three American pupils on exchange programs in Korea, Poland and Finland. A most informative read and everyone in our ministry should read it
Re the salaries - my tongue in cheek comment is: since practically all kids need extra tuition after school then I suppose the teachers are doing half their job..
Again - read about Finland in the above referenced book. Candidate teachers need higher scores than doctors and architects to get into University… says something about their calibre and commitment
I think the wider system of relying on "frodistiria" is fundamentally broken and GR should find a way to finally grow out of it. Not everyone has to go to the top schools or become a doctor/lawyer/scientist. We should embrace a wider set of potential outcomes and alleviate the pressure that leads to students graduating with degrees that often have zero relation to the real economy and its needs at any moment in time.
That’s a battle no one wants to fight. All the undisclosed income and people have built their livilihood on this model. Agree fully on the wider outcome of the education system
A very interesting read, with thanks for putting together.
A glaring observation from these statistics is that the first two % (tertiary education completion rate & early leavers) unfortunately appear to be completely pointless irl. This seems to be the conclusion that’s drawn (or at least that I drew, correctly or not) from when one takes into account the PISA stat.
While university level education completion rate is a ‘marketable’ metric, the fact that the educational level of 15yo students is low probably means that the standards for university admissibility are also quite low (e.g. if Greek 18yos were ‘competing’ against Esthonian or Japanese 18yos for the same university spots, Greeks would obviously not be admitted - with the first % spiraling down..)
It then stands to reason that the quality of tertiary studies is also not very high either (otherwise we wouldn’t have a high tertiary education completion %..), which if correlated with the underpayment of teachers (albeit I’m not sure whether those stats relate to teaches in secondary education or lower or whether they also capture uni level lecturers) tracks.
In any event, a very interesting read as I said + a very good point in the comments re: ‘frontistiria’ (and a great topic to be explored in and of itself in a Vol. 2 perhaps).
The fact that not many students drop out of their education has to do a lot with culture I believe. At the same time it is healthy for someone to reconsider their options and choose wisely without any pressure, so the low percentage of 4% shouldn't necessarily be appraised. Moreover, as we all know R&D budgets have increased across Europe, without any potential ROI so far. I believe we need to stop and reconsider also where all that (mostly public) money should be allocated instead
There is a reason basic schooling became mandatory in the Western world. And it is undoubtedly positive for Greece to have such a low percentage.
Not sure I agree on the ROI point (we do see it in Europe, we are just not as good as marketing it as in the US), but we should definitely increase budgets and also think more out of the box in how we allocate that money.
To be honest, I am tired of my city's university, AUTH, and CERTH spending money unconsciously, when in overall the city hasn't changed. I don't really think there is another institution/organisation/company in the city that attracts so much capital
What does "spending money unconsciously" mean to you?
Submitting applications to get funding for projects just to keep the operations of an organisation alive, without really considering whether the project drives actual value creation in the end. That's the reality of most research (as well as non-profit) organisations
Marketing isn't the only problem. "Hungry" founders and builders is. Increasing budgets won't spark innovation from now on. This has been quite an expensive experiment
I don't agree. We have ample hungry founders and builders in Europe. I don't for a minute buy the narrative that there are not things happening in the continent because I have the numbers and I speak with the changemakers.
Higher budgets allocated to R&D do boost innovation. Yes, we need to reduce bureaucracy and allow for more experimentation. Yes, there are many inefficiencies and problems both on a local and EU level. But Rome was not built in a day, and I actually see improvements in many areas, including on an attitude level - which as you point out, is crucial.
Indeed there are some cases of hungry founders. But as an investor would ask, how competent are those people related to the problem they are solving (e.g. credibility and background), what is their understanding of how the European and global markets of this sector work, how well connected they are to attract talent and investors to pursue their venture and how they communicate their vision, while avoiding burning out from bureaucracy (which nevertheless exists on heavy industries and deep tech, which Europe historically focuses on)
Great article. For anyone interested in how secondary education can be improved read Amanda Ripley’s The Smartest Kids in the World where the journalist follows three American pupils on exchange programs in Korea, Poland and Finland. A most informative read and everyone in our ministry should read it
Re the salaries - my tongue in cheek comment is: since practically all kids need extra tuition after school then I suppose the teachers are doing half their job..
Again - read about Finland in the above referenced book. Candidate teachers need higher scores than doctors and architects to get into University… says something about their calibre and commitment
I think the wider system of relying on "frodistiria" is fundamentally broken and GR should find a way to finally grow out of it. Not everyone has to go to the top schools or become a doctor/lawyer/scientist. We should embrace a wider set of potential outcomes and alleviate the pressure that leads to students graduating with degrees that often have zero relation to the real economy and its needs at any moment in time.
That’s a battle no one wants to fight. All the undisclosed income and people have built their livilihood on this model. Agree fully on the wider outcome of the education system