Young people who leave school at 16 with low skills are facing increasing challenges in finding a job, and their chances may not improve even if the economy picks up, according to the recently published OECD report Society at a Glance 2016 .
Fighting early school leaving is essential, says the OECD. Governments must ensure that young people obtain at least an upper-secondary qualification so they can continue in education or gain vocational skills. Despite progress, one in six 25-34 year olds in OECD countries left school before upper secondary.
The report presents strategies to avert early school leaving and facilitate successful school-to-work transitions through high-quality vocational education.
Cedefop's Irene Psifidou says that this complements well Cedefop research findings where we show and prove how VET can prevent and remedy early leaving.
Cedefop two-volume publication Leaving education early: putting vocational education and training centre stage will be officially published next week.
