OECD Education Report: Demand for postgraduate degrees increased, but fewer children in schools

Significant improvements successful education are highlighted successful a caller study by OECD (“Education astatine a Glance 2025” – September 2025), specified arsenic reducing schoolhouse dropout, expanding postgraduate qualifications, enhancing digital access with caller technologies, and infrastructure improvements.

However, Greece continues to lag down the OECD mean connected captious indicators: expenditure per pupil, teacher salaries, and international pupil mobility. In addition, chronic challenges remain, specified arsenic the request to amended link acquisition to the labour market and enactment lifelong learning. Particularly salient are besides social inequalities successful schools

The challenge for the adjacent decennary is twofold: to fortify quality and backing for acquisition connected the 1 hand, and to code the demographic crisis that threatens to further shrink the pupil colonisation connected the other. Without targeted policies and investment, the hazard is that the spread with the remainder of the OECD volition widen.

In much detail, the figures successful the OECD’s yearly report:

– Reduction successful the fig of young radical without a precocious schoolhouse diploma

Greece follows the affirmative inclination recorded successful the OECD with a alteration successful the fig of young radical aged 25-34 years aged who person not completed secondary education. The complaint fell from 13% successful 2019 to conscionable 7% successful 2024, a important advancement that brings the state person to the OECD average.

– Completing secondary acquisition reduces the hazard of unemployment

Across OECD countries, 12.9% of young radical without a schoolhouse leaving certificate are unemployed, compared to 6.9% of those with a schoolhouse leaving certificate. In Greece, the rates stay higher: 24.2% for those without a schoolhouse leaving certificate, 16.2% for those who person 1 and 12.3% for those with a higher acquisition degree.

– Postgraduate Studies – Up but down compared to OECD

13% of 25-34 twelvemonth olds successful Greece person a postgraduate degree, little than the OECD mean (16%) but up from 9% successful 2019. This emergence shows the dynamic request for specialisation, but besides the request for much world and vocation improvement opportunities.

On average, individuals with a master’s grade oregon equivalent person importantly higher employment rates and net than those with a bachelor’s grade oregon equivalent. However, the proportionality of young adults (25-34 years old) obtaining a postgraduate grade varies wide crossed OECD countries, ranging from 1% to 39% successful 2024.

– Demographic Challenge – Fewer children successful schools

The terrible demographic shrinkage that Greece is facing is present intelligibly reflected successful the pupil population. The fig of 0-4 twelvemonth olds fell by 25% betwixt 2013 and 2023 and a further 11% driblet is expected by 2033. This affects the request for adaptation successful the plan of schoolhouse infrastructure and assets allocation.

– Higher Education successful the spotlight

All young radical entering higher acquisition successful Greece are enrolled successful Bachelor’s level programmes – 100%, compared to an OECD mean of 78%. Women marque up 55% of caller entrants, somewhat higher than the OECD mean (54%).

In presumption of subjects, Greece shows a precocious predisposition towards subject and exertion (30% of Bachelor graduates), portion societal sciences and humanities relationship for 24%.

However, planetary pupil mobility remains low. The stock of planetary students decreased from 3.4% successful 2018 to 3% successful 2023, portion the OECD recorded an summation from 6% to 7.4%.

– Funding – beneath OECD average, Greece

Public spending connected acquisition successful Greece remains low. The state spends US$6,420 per pupil connected superior and secondary education, good beneath countries that scope oregon transcend US$27,000. In higher education, spending falls adjacent lower, to US$4,497 per student, erstwhile the OECD mean is US$15,102.

As a percent of GDP, full concern successful acquisition is 3.9%, compared to 4.7% successful the OECD. 78.3% of backing comes from the state, little than the mean of 90.1%. At the aforesaid time, spending connected acquisition has decreased arsenic a stock of the nationalist fund from 6.2% successful 2015 to 5.9% successful 2022.

There was a important summation successful pre-school education: +16.6% successful spending, owed besides to an 11.7% summation successful the fig of children enrolled. However, per capita expenditure accrued by lone 4.4%, good beneath the OECD mean (24%).

– Stability with debased salaries for teachers

Greece has debased teacher mobility: 2.6% discontinue and conscionable 0.1% resign annually. This reduces the unit for caller recruitment but limits renewal successful the sector.

The fig of teachers successful the assemblage is lone 2%.
Teachers’ salaries stay low: superior schoolhouse teachers are paid 31% little than different workers with a higher acquisition degree, erstwhile the OECD mean is -17%. Wage maturation implicit the play 2015-2024 was conscionable 1.4%, compared to 14.6% successful the OECD.

– Timetable, lessons, and classes

Pupils successful Greece person 718 hours of compulsory acquisition per twelvemonth successful superior schoolhouse and 791 successful secondary school, little than the OECD mean (804 and 909 hours, respectively). Holidays magnitude to 16.8 weeks per year, 1 of the longest successful the OECD.

41% of clip successful superior schoolhouse is devoted to connection and mathematics, portion successful secondary schoolhouse it drops to 37%, supra the OECD mean (27%). The mean fig of pupils per people is 16.9, among the lowest successful the OECD.

– The ratio of students to teachers successful universities

In higher education, the ratio of students to world unit is high, particularly successful institutions with a beardown probe orientation: 40 students per unit subordinate compared to 36 successful institutions with less PhD graduates.