Learning for Life

CHAPTER 2

Better Skills, Better Jobs, Better Lives

Andreas Schleicher

Skills transform lives, generate prosperity, and promote social inclusion everywhere. And if there is one lesson the global economy has taught us over the last few years, it is that we cannot simply bail ourselves out of a crisis, that we cannot solely stimulate ourselves out of a crisis, and that we cannot just print money to get out of a crisis. A much stronger bet for countries to grow themselves over the long term is to equip more people with better skills to collaborate, to compete, and to connect in ways that drive our economies forward.

If there is one central message emerging from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s new Survey of Adult Skills, ...