Better Policies for Better Lives
Education at the heart of Korea’s economic growth
Korea has been particularly successful in raising its education levels over a relatively short period of time. In 1970, about 67% of the labour force had a primary education, 26% had a secondary education, and about 6% had a university-level education. In three decades, Korea achieved universal primary and secondary education, and by 2010 Korea had the largest proportion of 25-34 year-olds with at least an upper secondary education among OECD countries. Today, some 98% of 25-34 year-olds in Korea have an upper secondary education – 55 percentage points more than the proportion of 55-64 year-olds with that level of education.
In addition, 65% of 25-34 year-olds in Korea have completed tertiary education – again, the largest proportion of adults in this age group, among OECD countries. Korea’s 15-year-olds are also high performers in the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) surveys. In the 2012 edition, Korea ranked amongst the five highest-performing countries and economies in reading skills.
Korea’s rapid economic growth and strong emphasis on education since 1962 help to explain these good results. The country’s emphasis on education and training boosted productivity and helped accelerate economic growth, turning the country into a high-tech and export-led economy.