Education and national economic reconstruction

‘The labour market challenges that call for long-term adjustment of the educational systems stem from the pressures of international competition, technological change and, more generally, the need for flexibility. Though individual member countries all have their own economic, cultural and educational legacies, they now face largely the same market conditions and use more or less the same technologies and sources of information. In this situation, each country's prosperity hinges to a great extent… on its ability to enhance its competitiveness under what are inherently unpredictable market conditions. … a fact which inevitably raises serious concerns for countries whose education systems perform poorly by international standards – be it in terms of quantity, quality or flexibility.’Structural adjustment and economic performance, Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, OECD, Paris 1987, pp. 69–70.