Facing the prospects of rapid aging andshrinking population over the coming decades, Slovakia needsa highly skilled workforce to help generate the productivitygrowth that it needs to fuel its continued convergence ofliving standards with its West European neighbors. Skillingup the workforce starts with equipping youth with the rightcognitive and socio-emotional foundation skills.International research has identified three dimensions ofskills that matter for good employment outcomes and economicgrowth: cognitive skills, such as literacy, numeracy,creative and critical thinking or problem-solving;socio-emotional skills and behavioral traits, such asconscientiousness, grit or openness to experience; and job-or occupation-specific technical skills, such as the abilityto work as an engineer. This report focuses on cognitiveskills and examines results for Slovakia from the programfor international student assessment (PISA), which assessesthe mathematics, reading, and science competencies of15-year-olds. Its findings suggest that Slovakia can dosignificantly better in helping students develop cognitivefoundation skills. This note proposes several policyrecommendations, based on an analysis of Slovakia’s PISAdata as well as international evidence, to make Slovakia’seducation system both stronger and more inclusive.
PDF
download
878987797
028-85220240
