Pillar 6: Skills

What does it capture? The general level of skills of the workforce and the quantity and quality of education. While the concept of educational quality is constantly evolving, important quality factors today include: developing digital literacy, interpersonal skills, and the ability to think critically and creatively.

Why does it matter? Education embeds skills and competencies in the labour force. Highlyeducated populations are more productive because they possess greater collective ability to perform tasks and transfer knowledge quickly, and create new knowledge and applications.

 

6.01 Mean years of schooling

 Average number of completed years of education of a country’s population aged 25 years and older, excluding years spent repeating individual grades. | 2015

Sources: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO); Wittgenstein Centre for Demography and Global Human Capital.

 

6.02 Extent of staff training

Response to the survey question “In your country, to what extent do companies invest in training and employee development?” [1 = not at all; 7 = to a great extent] | 2017– 2018 weighted average or most recent period available

Source: World Economic Forum, Executive Opinion Survey. For more details, refer to Appendix B of this report.

 

6.03 Quality of vocational training

Response to the survey question “In your country, how do you assess the quality of vocational training?” [1 = extremely poor among the worst in the world; 7 = excellent among the best in the world] | 2017–2018 weighted average or most recent period available

Source: World Economic Forum, Executive Opinion Survey. For more details, refer to Appendix B of this report.

 

6.04 Skillset of graduates

Average score of the following two Executive Opinion Survey questions: “In your country, to what extent do graduating students from secondary education possess the skills needed by businesses?” and “In your country, to what extent do graduating students from university possess the skills needed by businesses?” In each case, the answer ranges from 1 (not at all) to 7 (to a great extent).| 2017–2018 weighted average or most recent period available

Source: World Economic Forum, Executive Opinion Survey. For more details, refer to Appendix B of this report.

 

6.05 Digital skills among active population

Response to the survey question “In your country, to what extent does the active population possess sufficient digital skills (e.g. computer skills, basic coding, digital reading)?” [1 = not all; 7 = to a great extent] | 2017–2018 weighted average or most recent period available Source: World Economic Forum, Executive Opinion Survey. For more details, refer to Appendix B of this report. 6.06 Ease of finding skilled employees Response to the survey question “In your country, to what extent can companies find people with the skills required to fill their vacancies?” [1 = not at all; 7 = to a great extent] | 2017– 2018 weighted average or most recent period available

Source: World Economic Forum, Executive Opinion Survey. For more details, refer to Appendix B of this report.

 

6.07 School life expectancy

Total number of years of schooling (primary through tertiary) that a child of school entrance age can expect to receive. | 2015

This indicator assumes that the probability of a person being enrolled in school at any particular future age is equal to the current enrolment ratio at that age. More details about the methodology can be found at http://uis.unesco.org/en/glossary.

Source: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

 

6.08 Critical thinking in teaching

Response to the survey question “In your country, how do you assess the style of teaching?” [1 = frontal, teacher based, and focused on memorizing; 7 = encourages creative and critical individual thinking] | 2017–2018 weighted average or most recent period available

Source: World Economic Forum, Executive Opinion Survey. For more details, refer to Appendix B of this report.

 

6.09 Pupil-to-teacher ratio in primary education

Average number of pupils per teacher, based on headcounts of both pupils and teachers. | 2016

Source: The World Bank Group.