Improving the quality of education, as defined by higher cognitive abilities, can reap huge dividends for economic growth in developing Asia in coming decades, says a new Asian Development Bank (ADB) report.
In a special chapter of key indicators for Asia and the Pacific 2015, its flagship annual statistical publication, the ADB says average years of schooling in the region nearly doubled between 1970 and 2010, resulting in substantial gains in literacy and helping fuel growth. But this has not been enough to produce sufficiently skilled workers to fully meet current or future demands, it adds.
The report uses a unique data set of education indicators across 67 economies globally, including 23 from developing Asia and the Pacific, to capture key features of basic educational systems.
It shows that improving skills-especially cognitive skills which capture writing, reading, numeracy, and problem-solving capabilities can substantially increase growth prospects for countries in the region.
Across the measures studied, countries can make the most substantial gains in skill levels when test scores and school performance are routinely available to the general public.
