EU education report: Ireland performs best for tertiary education but worst for increases in maths, science and technology graduates

Ireland has more 30 to 34 year-olds with a third level qualification than anywhere else in the EU, an EU education report out today reveals. In all, 49% have one in Ireland, well exceeding the "Europe 2020" target of 40% set two years ago.

However, the picture in Ireland is not so good for some of the other five Europe 2020 targets. Ireland was the worst performer when it comes to increasing numbers of maths, science and technology graduates, up only 1% between 2000 and 2008, while the numbers of women science graduates actually fell. Another problem area was the share of low achievers in reading, maths and science - this actually increased from 11% in 2000 to 17.2% in 2009.

(full list of highlights for Ireland scroll down)
(click for full Brussels press release with tables for highlights)

Overall, EU countries have improved their education systems in key areas over the past decade but they have achieved only one out of five benchmarks set for 2010, the report reveals. The main success was to increase the number of maths, science and technology graduates, with a 37% rise since 2000 – easily outstripping the target of 15%.

Some progress was also made on reducing the school drop-out rate, increasing the number of pupils completing upper secondary education, improving reading literacy skills and increasing the share of adults participating in education or training.

The Europe 2020 target is to reduce the school drop-out rate to under 10%, as well as increasing the share of graduates to at least 40%.

Androulla Vassiliou, the Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth, said: "The good news is that education levels in Europe have risen considerably. More young people complete secondary education and graduate from higher education compared to ten years ago. But early school leaving continues to be a problem that affects one in seven young people in the European Union and one in five pupils still have poor reading skills at the age of 15. That is why education and training are among the core objectives of Europe 2020. We need further efforts from Member States to reach our joint European targets."

The Commissioner is strongly urging Member States not to make cuts in education budgets despite the constraints they face due to the economic crisis. "Spending on education is a good investment for jobs and economic growth and in the long term pays for itself. But in times of budgetary pressures we also have to ensure that resources are used as efficiently as possible," she added.

2010 Benchmarks

Pre-school participation: Benchmark 2020 - By 2020 at least 95% of children between the age of four and the age for starting compulsory primary education should participate in early childhood education (now 92.3%, achieving this target would mean over 250 000 more young children in education);

Result: By 2008 only 72% of Irish children between 4 years old and the starting age of compulsory education participated in early childhood education compared to 100% in France, and 99.5% in Belgium and the Netherlands.

Low achievers: Benchmark 2010/2020 – By 2010 the share of low achievers in reading should decrease by 20% to 17%. By 2020 the share of low achievers in reading, maths and science should be less than 15%.

Result: In Ireland the share of low achievers actually increased from 11% in 2000 to 12.1% in 2006 to 17.2% in 2009.  Finland was the best performer with only 8.1%.

Early school leavers: Benchmark 2010/2020 (also EU 2020 headline target) - By 2010/2020 a share of early school leavers of no more than 10% should be reached.

Result: Ireland has improved in this respect with the rate of early school leavers dropping from 14.6% in 2002 to 11.3% in 2009. Poland (5.3%), the Czech Republic (5.4%) and Slovakia (4.9%) were the best performers.

Youth education attainment: Benchmark 2010 - By 2010 at least 85% of 22 year-olds in the EU should have should have completed upper-secondary education.

Result: Ireland has exceeded the target at 87% in 2009, a rise 4.4% since 2000 but a drop of 0.7% since 2008 when we reached 87.7%. The best performers were Slovakia at 93.3%, the Czech Republic at 91.9% and Poland at 91.3%.

Maths, science & technology graduates: Benchmark 2010 - By 2010 the total number of MST graduates in the EU should increase by at least 15%, gender imbalance should decrease.

Result: Ireland was the worst performers in this area with an increase of only 1% between 2000 and 2008. Furthermore the share of females dropped from 37.9% to 30.4%. Portugal (193.2%), Slovakia (185.8%) and the Czech Republic (141.3%) were the best performers.

Tertiary attainment: Benchmark 2020 (also EU 2020 headline target): By 2020 tertiary attainment of 30-34 year olds should at least reach 40%.

Result: Ireland was the best performer in the EU and well exceeded the target with rates rising from 27.5% in 2000 to 49% in 2009 (the highest level in the EU). Denmark at 48.1% and Luxembourg at 46.6% were next;

Adult lifelong learning participation: Benchmark 2010/2020 - The EU average level of participation in lifelong learning of the working age population should at least reach 12.5% in 2010 and 15% in 2020.

Result: Ireland fell well below the target with rates dropping from 7.4% in 2005 to 6.3% in 2009. The best performers were Denmark (31.6%), Sweden (22.2%) and Finland (22.1%).

Key results

• 2020 benchmarks: although it is too early for precise projections, past trends suggest that most of the benchmarks for 2020 should be attainable if Member States continue to give them high priority and invest efficiently in education and training. This is true, in particular, for the two education headline targets on early school leaving and graduates.

• 2010 benchmarks: EU countries have made progress but only achieved the target on the number of graduates in maths, science and technology. (Full data for 2010 will be available early next year).

• Participation and attainment: since 2000, overall participation in education has increased as well as the qualification levels of adults. The share of children in pre-primary education has risen as well.

• Gender gaps remain significant both in performance and in choice of subjects. For instance, girls outperform boys in reading, and boys account for most early school leavers. Men outnumber women among graduates in maths, science and technology subjects.

The report, which covers all EU Member States, plus Croatia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Iceland, Turkey, Norway and Liechtenstein, contains overviews and detailed statistics identifying which countries perform above or below the EU average and which are catching up or falling behind compared to the others.

Next steps

In the coming weeks, Member States will submit their national reform programmes to the Commission, in which they will set national targets on early school leaving and higher education graduates, spelling out how they want to achieve their goals. The Commission will soon present proposed new benchmarks on employability and learning mobility.

To find out more:

Link to MEMO/11/253
Full Commission report
"Progress towards the Lisbon objectives in education and training - Indicators and benchmarks, 2010/11"
Leaflet: Education benchmarks for Europe [with country-specific data]
European Commission:
European strategy and co-operation in education and training