The Education Policy Outlook, the OECD’s analytical observatory of education policy, is a collaborative effort between OECD countries and economies, the OECD Secretariat, and invited institutions, as well as all actors working within participating education systems to help students achieve their potential.
This report was prepared by members of the Education Policy Outlook team (Christa Rawkins, Diana Toledo Figueroa [Project Leader], Savannah Saunders, Jonathan James and Clément Dumont), under the responsibility of Paulo Santiago, Head of the Policy Advice and Implementation Division, and Andreas Schleicher, Special Advisor on Education Policy to the OECD Secretary-General, and Director for Education and Skills. Nicholas Biddle contributed with comments during the finalisation of the report, as part of his Thomas J. Alexander fellowship with the Education Policy Outlook Team during 2020. Stephen Flynn provided editorial support and Rachel Linden, Sophie Limoges, Alison Burke and Jason Fallow provided communications support.
Sincere thanks are due, particularly in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, to the many contributors who helped shape the objectives of the work of the OECD Education Policy Outlook during 2020. The Education Policy Outlook National Co-ordinators provided guidance and comments throughout the development of this Handbook, including bilateral exchanges with more than 20 participating education systems to gain a deeper understanding of the key challenges facing policy makers in the second half of 2020, as well as their policy priorities moving forward. This report also benefitted from invited contributions from several projects across the Directorate for Education and Skills: the Higher Education Policy project, the vocational education and training (VET) and Adult Learning project, the Future of Education and Skills 2030 project, the Implementing Education Policies project, the Teachers’ Professional Learning study, and the Strength through Diversity project.
The OECD Secretariat is also thankful to all those who took part in the virtual extraordinary Education Policy Reform Dialogues 2020: Shifting education practices towards a more resilient new normal, which took place on 26-27 October 2020. This report acted as background documentation to the event, and has since been enriched by key outcomes of delegates’ discussions. The event was co-hosted by the OECD and the Department of Education and Training of the Flemish Community of Belgium. It was moderated by Hon. Hekia Parata (former Minister of Education of New Zealand) and brought together over 130 senior policy makers representing 42 registered delegations from OECD member countries, key partners and non-member countries, as well as other international and partner organisations.
Finally, the OECD is also grateful to the European Commission for the financial and analytical collaboration it provided for the updates of 11 Education Policy Outlook Country Policy Profiles from 2017 to 2020. Findings from these policy profiles also contributed to the preparation of this Handbook as part of the wider knowledge base of the Education Policy Outlook.