OECD Urges Educators to Address Social Cohesion Risks

17/03/2004 - Growing diversity of populations enriches the cultural tissue of society but is one of a number of factors that call for urgent action from education providers, according to the OECD. How best to respond will be the theme of an OECD Forum on Education and Social Cohesion in Dublin on Thursday 18 March. 

OECD research shows that in many countries immigrant children do less well than nationals. In most countries with significant immigrant populations, for example, first-generation 15-year-olds read well below the level of native students even if they were themselves born in the country. Students born abroad lag behind even more, although to widely varying degrees in different countries. Low levels of educational attainment affect individuals' performance later in life, both in the workplace and elsewhere.

Ensuring that high quality education is available to all is one of the biggest challenges facing education providers. OECD analysis suggests that they should pay more attention to the social context of learning if they are to contribute effectively to enhancing social cohesion.  The growing ethnic diversity of populations and the exclusion of some groups from the support supplied by strong social networks are among the factors that they need to take into account. 

"The most certain prediction that can be made about any advanced nation today is that it will be more ethnically diverse 20 years from now," Harvard University’s Prof. Robert Putnam, author of the influential book on social capital, 'Bowling Alone', will tell the Forum. "One reason students from minority and impoverished backgrounds are disadvantaged educationally is because they lack access to productive social capital."

The Forum, from 3.00 p.m. to 6.00 p.m. GMT, will be open to the media and will be chaired by Italy’s Minister for Education, Universities and Research, Letizia Moratti,. Prof. Putnam will give the keynote speech, and the President of University College, Dublin, Prof. Hugh Brady, will give a closing address. The Forum will be also accessible via a Web cast on www.oecd.org/edumin2004/webcast .

Social capital has many aspects, but some key features are the levels of trust and reciprocity that result from functioning social networks; formal education plays a major part in achieving such outcomes. In addition to providing learning facilities, school systems can enhance social capital by expanding extracurricular activities, encouraging students to engage in community service and operating as social centres.

But measures to enable greater local initiative and control of school systems can also have unintended and contradictory impacts, for example by leading to regional disparities or exacerbating social divisions. What is more, education providers need to take economic and other factors into account. Small schools may be more effective in fostering trust and engagement, but larger units can prove more efficient and better for diversity. Forum participants will discuss how countries have dealt with such issues and how to evaluate the outcome of their policies.

Further information about the OECD Forum and the meeting of OECD Education Ministers that will follow in Dublin on 19 March can be found at www.oecd.org/edumin2004.