In sub-Saharan Africa, the loss of teaching hours due to teacher absenteeism corresponds to a waste of approximately 46 cents for every US dollar invested in education, an annual wastage of 1-3% of GDP. This brief summarizes the results of research in 11 countries in West and Central Africa under the Time to Teach study, a project in UNICEF that…

UNICEF Innocenti's Report Card 17 explores how the 43 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and/or the European Union (EU) countries are faring in providing healthy environments for children. Do children have clean water to drink? Do they have good-quality air to breathe? Are their homes free of lead and mould? How many…

A new look at children from the world's richest countries offers a mixed picture of their health, skills and happiness. For far too many, issues such as poverty, exclusion and pollution threaten their mental well-being, physical health and opportunities to develop skills. Even countries with good social, economic and environmental conditions are a…

The gap between the levels of learning that education systems are providing and what children, communities and economies need, is growing. The breadth and depth of this learning crisis constitute the greatest global challenge to preparing children and adolescents for life, work and active citizenship. The lesson of the learning crisis is clear:…

The relationship between ageing and skills is becoming an important policy issue, not least in the context of population ageing. Data from the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) will potentially add considerably to the understanding of the relationship between ageing and foundation skills. In particular, the…

The Centre for the Economics of Education was asked to bring together a wide range of academic evidence (primarily England-based) to investigate the extent to which academic and non-academic childhood outcomes are complementary to each other, or are in some way traded-off against each other. The report also investigates the drivers of both…

With increasing environmental problems, there is a large social demand for environmental policy. Education is a powerful source to fulfill this demand and the Foundation for Environmental Education in Europe's (FEEE's) Eco School program aims to develop awareness of environmental issues and sustainability among elementary and secondary school…

Examines perceived risk data from the United States, China, Japan, and South Korea. Compares similar results collected from previous studies. Analyzes psychometric scaling scores from Burkina Faso, France, Norway, and Hungary. (Author/CCM)

Data from a large sample of Australian twins indicate that 50 to 65 percent of variance in educational attainments can be attributed to genetic endowments. Only about 25 to 40 percent may be due to environmental factors, depending on adjustments for measurement error and assortative mating. (Contains 51 references.) (MLH)

"OECD in Figures" is a primary statistical source for key data on OECD countries, ranging from economic growth and employment to inflation, trade and environment. Information is presented in tabular form for: (1) Demography and Health; (2) Economy; (3) Energy; (4) Labour; (5) Science and Technology; (6) Environment; (7) Education; (8)…

Using data primarily from United Nations Statistical Yearbooks, but from other sources as well, this Atlas provides an overview, in graphical form, of issues affecting children in Africa. Some of the issues covered, such as immunization, affect children directly. Others, such as economic progress, are included because they form part of the…