“It should be easier for people graduating in the EU to obtain a work permit in the EU,” says the report.

The shape of migration to the EU

While several large Asian markets – among them India, China and the Philippines – drive overall migration to OECD countries, migration to the EU is more diverse, with potential migrants in nearby European and African regions more likely to cite the EU as their desired destination compared to other regions. However, the EU attracts smaller numbers of higher-educated migrants than other OECD destinations.

The EU hosts about 31% of the global pool of higher-eduated migrants distributed across EU and OECD countries, whereas nearly six in ten (57%) are in North America. In fact, the overall pattern is that migrants to the EU tend to be younger and less educated than is the case in non-EU OECD countries. Between 2000 and 2010, the share of all low-educated migrants in OECD countries living in the EU15 rose from 36% to 45%, and in 2014 employment among migrants in the EU15 countries was more than ten percentage points lower than in non-EU OECD countries.

The OECD’s recommendation that the EU reform its work permit policies to retain highly-educated foreign EU graduates therefore represents a plan to reverse this long-term trend. Current migration rules were developed at a time when member-states were in more direct competition. The report’s authors suggest that modern-day factors require a less fragmented approach designed to make the EU more attractive as a whole.

The report notes that variances in policy make for uneven issuance of work permits. As it stands now, Italy, Spain, and the UK issue more than half of all work permits bestowed. Some EU states impose education, occupation, or salary requirements, while others rely upon hard numerical limits. Still others use labour market tests, and some deny entry to less skilled labour migrants entirely while others admit them only for seasonal activities.

This is not to say work permit polices are completely disconnected. The EU developed some common rules with the 1999 Amsterdam Treaty, while the 2009 Lisbon Treaty mandates that certain objectives should be supported and complemented through EU initiatives, and made the European Parliament co-legislator in the area of legal migration. The chart below, from the OECD, gives an idea of the overall alignment of policies in various countries.

Barriers to labour migration in selected EU countries. Source: OECD

The Netherlands, for its part, is out front on the issue of attracting highly skilled migrants. The understanding that the retention of international students bolsters the Dutch economy led to the creation of the Make it in the Netherlands () programme in 2014. Among other areas of focus, MiitN began to promote the learning of Dutch to foreign students, worked toward creating a bridge between study and career, and streamlined bureaucratic procedures.

EU President Jean-Claude Juncker has called for a reset on foreign worker rules as part of a broader agenda of boosting employment rights and setting wage standards, among other goals. Already an EU vote earlier this year harmonised and eased rules for non-EU students, with the goal of attracting not only more students, but also researchers and interns.

The further changes proposed are touted as a way to bring clarity to various grey areas in regulations, and they fall into three broad categories: adapting labour migration channels, simplifying procedures, and promoting the EU labour market.

Proposed Blue Card changes

The EU’s Blue Card programme was designed to attract skilled workers from abroad. However, the programme was not adopted by all member states and has not been widely used.

With an announced on 7 June 2016, the programme is now set for a major restructuring. Less than 14,000 Blue Cards were issued last year, and mostly by Germany. In September 2015, more than three quarters of respondents to a public survey concerning the Blue Card scheme believed more should be done at the EU level to improve the attractiveness of EU member states for highly skilled migrants. The ease of getting a permit was the issue singled out by 63% of respondents. Currently, in order to receive a Blue Card non-EU nationals must earn 1.5 times the average salary of the EU country where they plan to move, and employment contracts must be for at least one year.

Some of the European Commission’s proposed reforms include:

• Faster and more flexible procedures. Applications can be submitted either abroad or in EU territory, and the maximum processing time is brought down from 90 to 60 days.
• Parallel national schemes for similar eligible groups are to be replaced by a single, EU-wide scheme for highly skilled third-country nationals.
• The required minimum duration of initial contracts is brought down from 12 to 6 months to align more with labour market realities and many national schemes.
• The new scheme introduces more facilitation for recent graduates and workers in shortage occupations to increase the retention of foreign talent educated in the EU and facilitate their entry from abroad.
• Member states have the option to introduce fast-track procedures for recognised or trusted employers, with the recognition procedure regulated at the national level.
• Blue Card holders will be able to move to other member states after 12 months of residence in the first member state, compared to 18 months under the existing rules. They would be able to move after six months of residence in second, third, and further member states.
• Professional experience will be recognised as equivalent to possessing higher education credentials.

Certain rules would not change, for example the requirement for Blue Card applicants to prove their highly-skilled status, or to have a job offer or contract in hand before submitting paperwork. Member-states will also still be able to rely upon labour market tests to judge employer needs and create national shortage lists, which would be used to adjust salary thresholds and thus attract the workers each country’s labour markets need most urgently.

According to OECD Director for Employment, Labour, and Social Affairs Stefano Scarpetta, employers in most EU member states already report more difficulty attracting and retaining talent than those in competing non-EU countries. Commenting on the need to draw more highly skilled workers, he said, “Skilled migrants can play an important role in addressing labour market shortages, drive innovation, and promote productivity growth.”

Political obstacles loom

Jean-Claude Juncker is now his EU presidency due to the outcome of Britain’s Brexit vote. It is unclear what effect this would have, if any, on the EU’s recent proposals. Likely none, as support is strong among policymakers for common action in making the EU more attractive for highly qualified migrants. But any reforms will take place in an atmosphere of growing anti-immigrant sentiment among EU citizens.

Strong resistance to EU policy in countries like Denmark, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Slovakia are already roiling the political waters. Switzerland staged a referendum on immigration caps in 2014 that passed and is legally binding upon Swiss policymakers, and Romania has its own immigration vote upcoming in the autumn. Various European politicians have criticised the EU’s proposals in the most forceful terms. Gisela Stuart of the UK’s Labour Party told , “The plan appears to be to open our borders ever wider – extending access to the European labour market to yet more war zones.”

The authors of Recruiting Immigrant Workers: Europe acknowledge that the issue of legal migration is tied to that of forced and illegal migration. For example, one proposed Blue Card reform expands the programme to encompass people who previously arrived in Europe illegally and are seeking asylum. But the report also points out that legal migration, such as by foreign students seeking university degrees, constitutes the bulk of movement to the EU.

The EU estimates Blue Card reforms will net the single market €1.4 billion to €6.2 billion each year (US$1.6–US$7 billion), derived from retaining or attracting 32,000 to 137,000 additional high-skilled workers. Dimitris Avramopoulos, EU Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs, and Citizenship, said, “If we want to manage migration in the long-term, we have to start making those investments now, in the interest of us all. The revised EU Blue Card scheme will make it easier and more attractive for highly skilled third-country nationals to come and work in the EU and strengthen our economic growth.”

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Our focus today is on its findings with respect to international mobility. Drawing largely on data through the 2012/13 academic year, Education at a Glance 2015 reaffirms many of the key characteristics of international mobility that we have come to understand over the past decade.

Ongoing rise in international student mobility

The number of foreign tertiary students enrolled worldwide increased by 50% between 2005 and 2012. As many as 4.5 million students were enrolled outside of their home countries in 2012 and the total number is estimated to have surpassed five million by this year.

The report notes, “Student mobility has increased dramatically over the recent past, due to a range of factors. The exploding demand for tertiary education worldwide and the perceived value of studying at prestigious post-secondary institutions abroad contribute to an increasing and diversified flow of international students, ranging from those who cannot find a place to study in post-secondary education at home to students of high academic achievement studying at high-quality programmes and institutions. In addition, the educational value associated with a diverse student body, the substantial revenues that can be earned by expanding education for international students, and economic and political considerations prompted some governments and institutions to make major efforts to attract students from outside their national borders.”

Asia is the engine of growth in global student mobility

It was the region of origin for 53% of all international students in 2012/13, and China and India remain the world’s first and second-largest source markets. “Asia is dominating,” said Andreas Schleicher, Director of the OECD Directorate for Education and Skills.

“That is where you can see the hunger for learning. Parents want their children to get a better education and they still quite often choose countries in the Western world, in OECD countries, to obtain those qualifications.

It may change in the future but at the moment that is still by a large margin the most dominant source of international students, followed by Europe, and with a large gap by Africa.”

Distribution of international students in tertiary education by region of origin, 2013. Source: OECD

Shifting market share

The US remains the leading study destination but, while absolute numbers of foreign students in America continue to increase, its market share has fallen. “That share is declining in the United States,” adds Mr Schleicher. “The market is dividing up quite differently with countries like Japan [and some European countries] getting a larger share.”

More broadly, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, and the United Kingdom together receive more than 50% of all international students worldwide and OECD countries attract 73% of all students enrolled abroad.

Also of note: the number of international students enrolled in tertiary education in OECD countries was, on average, three times the number of students from OECD countries studying abroad.

Level of study variations for international students

Education at a Glance 2015 has some thought-provoking new observations as well. In particular, it highlights the growing importance of post-graduate programmes and the higher proportions of international student enrolment at advanced levels of study.

“The proportion of international students among total higher education enrolments tends to be much larger at the most advanced levels of tertiary education,” notes the report. “On average across OECD countries, 24% of students enrolled in doctoral or equivalent programmes are international students against an average of 9% in all levels of tertiary education.”

The OECD speculates that the following factors may be contributing to greater proportions of internationally mobile students in advanced studies:

• Particularly severe capacity constraints – that is, very limited opportunities for post-graduate or doctoral studies – in the students’ countries of origin;
• The benefits of study abroad, in terms of career opportunities and earning potential, are that much greater at advanced levels of study;
• Doctoral (or comparable level) students may simply be more likely to travel and live abroad, in part because they would be attractive to their host countries for their research contributions during their studies and/or as highly qualified immigrants.

The following chart makes the point quite vividly that while foreign students may represent a relatively small proportion of total undergraduate enrolment in a major destination like the US, their participation rates are much higher at the master’s and doctoral levels.

International student enrolment as a percentage of total tertiary enrolment in OECD countries, by level of study, 2013. Source: OECD

Hit the brakes?

The report also gives passing attention to a possibility that has begun to play on the minds of international educators in recent years: can the market keep growing as quickly as it has? More to the point, what happens if growth slows significantly?

There are a variety of inter-related demand factors that influence demand patterns for study abroad, including domestic capacity, economics, demographics, labour market requirements, and immigration policies. And on the question of future trends, OECD says only, “In the current economic climate, shrinking support for scholarships and grants, as well as tighter budgets for individuals, may slow the pace of student mobility.”

The report does go on, however, to explore the different elements that drive student decision-making around study abroad and it distills these down to the following decision factors:

• Language of instruction. Languages that are widely spoken and read are attractive and the “progressive adoption of English as a global language” remains a major factor in the prominence of English-speaking destinations. This underlying demand driver has also played an important part in the expansion of English-taught programmes in non-English-speaking destinations, including those in Europe.
• Quality of programmes. Study destination attractiveness correlates strongly to perceptions of quality, as derived from international university rankings but also from a wide range of other indicators of quality for individual institutions and programmes.
• Costs of study. Both tuition and costs of living factor here, and all are filtered through the lens of prevailing currency exchange rates. OECD notes cost as an important consideration but observes as well that higher tuition fees do not necessarily discourage prospective students so long as the quality of education is perceived to be high.
• Immigration policy. There is no question that the destination country’s policies around student immigration are one of the most important determinants of attractiveness for foreign students. This pertains to the ease (and timeliness) with which a student visa can be obtained but also to opportunities for the student to work during or after his or her studies. The prospects for immigration after graduation may also be an important factor for students and host countries alike.

The global classroom

Overall, the OECD’s findings for 2015 reflect a global marketplace for education that continues to expand, but that is also increasingly complex.

“Tertiary education is becoming more international through a number of means,” notes the report. “For example distance education, international education-related internships and training experiences, crossborder delivery of academic programmes, and offshore satellite campuses.”

The global education market is also characterised of late by more varied patterns of mobility. China, for example, remains the world’s leading source of mobile students but is now also an important study destination in its own right. The same is true for Malaysia and a number of other regional destinations around the globe.

Growth rates and other high-level market trends will continue to hold our attention in 2016. But this expanding range of shifting market conditions will also challenge and engage international educators in the years ahead.

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These are some of the key findings of a recent report from the European University Association (EUA). Trends 2015: Learning and Teaching in European Universities is the latest in a series of survey reports from the EUA, and the first since 2010.

It gathers responses from 451 institutions representing 46 countries and with a combined student body of roughly 10 million. This, notes the report, represents “more than half of the 17 million students studying at EUA member institutions, or about a quarter of the student body enrolled in the institutions of the European Higher Education Area. However, this percentage rises to 38% of the student population if Azerbaijan, Belarus, Ukraine and the Russian Federation are excluded from the sample due to their low response rates (the institutions that responded represented about 10% of the students in each of these countries).”

Student numbers on the up

Trends 2015 highlights the European Union’s commitment to educate at least 40% of 30-34 year-olds at degree level by 2020 – alongside an earlier research finding that 12 EU members had reached that level of higher education participation as of 2012 (relative to an EU average of 36% by that year). “Many countries in Europe,” the report adds, “have been interested in broadening participation and access to higher education.”

Perhaps it is therefore not surprising that 62% of survey respondents reported an increase in enrolment over the past five years with 42% reporting growth of more than 10% since 2010. In contrast, only 19% reported a decrease in student numbers with 9% indicating a decline of 10% or more.

“The largest enrolment gains are found in Belgium, Denmark, Norway, Switzerland and Turkey; smaller but still significant growth is expected in Austria, France, Germany, the Russian Federation and Ukraine,” adds the report. “The largest decreases are found in the Czech Republic, Lithuania, and Slovakia.”

This summary reflects a broader pattern of migration fueled in part by the prolonged economic crisis in Europe. The percentage of Europeans residing in another member state has been steadily increasing since 2010, resulting in two particularly notable flows of migrants from the south to the north, and, to an even greater extent, from the east to the west.

This reflects that economies in southern and eastern Europe have been more profoundly affected by the downturn, and this is indicated in the survey responses as well in that institutions in both regions reported greater impacts of economics and demographics on their current and future enrolment prospects.

“The weak economic outlook has been accompanied by an increase in youth unemployment in many parts of Europe,” adds Trends 2015. “It peaked at 50% in Spain and 60% in Greece in 2014 and was estimated to have reached five million across the European Union in August 2014.

This has prompted many governments, the European Commission and the Organisation for Economic Co‑operation and Development (OECD) to emphasise the need for closer links between universities and industry, to stress innovation policies and graduate employability.”

It has also, it would appear, contributed to an increasing demand for professional qualifications among European students. Nearly four in ten survey respondents (38%) reported increased demand over the last five years for studies leading to a professional degree in fields such as business, engineering, or law.

Internationalising the student body

Nearly all respondents indicated they have an internationalisation strategy in place: 50% have a specialised international strategy already, 8% intend to develop one, and 35% have incorporated internationalisation as an element of a broader institutional strategy.

Not surprisingly, most European universities cite the EU as the primary geographic target of their international activities, including exchange programmes, international recruitment, joint programmes, and other cross-border links. After the EU, Asia and the Americas are the next most-reported geographic targets.

The following chart provides a little more nuance for the earlier finding of increased enrolment for a majority of responding institutions. It highlights that 69% of European universities reported an increase in non-EU enrolment since 2010. Riding along with this, 64% also indicated an increase in enrolment by EU students. “The growth of international students, both EU and non-EU, is the most frequent change that has occurred,” adds the report, “notably in Austria, Ireland, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Switzerland and Turkey.”

The changing composition of the student body of European universities, 2010 to 2015. Source: European University Association

When asked what they felt most contributed to any increase in enrolment since 2010, respondents cited “stronger emphasis on widening access and participation” (41%), “international recruitment” (39%), and “changes in admissions policies” (28%) as the top factors.

Main reasons for increased enrolment since 2010. Source: European University Association

The report highlights a related research finding that expanded international recruitment has become an increasingly common response to the economic crisis for European universities, both as a means to increase revenue and diversify funding sources.

Trends 2015 acknowledges that expanded international recruitment may be linked to the possibility of recovering higher fees from non-EU students but notes as well that recruitment activity is on the rise even in countries without such fee differentials.

“The new economic reality – the economic crisis, youth unemployment, the requirements of the knowledge society, globalisation – has led to renewed and additional emphasis on increasing student participation,” concludes the report.

“The composition of the student body is changing as a result of institutional strategies, particularly due to the major efforts being undertaken to recruit international students from both EU and non-EU countries…Where drops in enrolments occur, they are attributed to demographic change and the students’ financial situation, especially in eastern and southern Europe.”

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A recent study written by Bernd Wächter and Friedhelm Maiworm published by the Academic Cooperation Association (ACA) collected survey data from European education institutions to examine their use of programmes taught in English as a tool to increase mobility.

Data collected by ACA in collaboration with the Gesellschaft für Empirische Studien () and shows that the number of English-taught bachelor and master programmes – referred to in the study as English-Taught Programmes (ETPs) in non-English-speaking European countries has more than tripled over the last seven years.

A massive surge in ETPs

Comparing data from earlier studies shows how widespread the adoption of ETPs has become. The number of English-taught programmes was counted as 725 in 2001, 2,389 in 2007, and according to the present study, 8,089 in 2014. The new data, as well as that from other sources – such as that included in a 2013 şÚÁĎąŮÍř Monitor article – attests to the accelerated introduction and delivery of ETPs across Europe.

Currently, Germany has the largest number of institutions offering such programmes, at 154, followed by France with 113, and Poland at 59.

In absolute terms, the Netherlands has the most ETPs with 1,078, followed by Germany with 1,030, and Sweden with 822.

The chart below shows the top ten countries for ETPs numerically, and the proportion within the total number of programmes available.

Top ten countries by number of ETPs as of 2014, and the proportion of the total higher education programmes offered (by country) that each represents. Source: ACA

Because the number of higher education institutions per country differs, the percentages offer more revealing data. Denmark, Netherlands, Finland, and Sweden offer the highest percentage of courses in English, whereas by proportion, France ranks below sixteen other European nations in offering ETPs and Germany ranks below fourteen other countries.

In general, eastern and southern European countries offer the fewest ETPs by both number and percentage, with Greece, Croatia, and Bulgaria offering the least in sheer numbers, and those three countries along with Romania, Italy, and Turkey offering the least by percentage.

The chart above hints that ETPs are strong in the Nordic region, and the ACA’s data bears that out. Almost 61% of institutions in the Nordic countries offer bachelor and/or master programmes completely taught in English – nearly 20% of all programmes there fall into that category – and more than 5% of all students are enrolled in ETPs. The chart below divides Europe into six areas to provide a snapshot of how such courses are distributed regionally.

Regional distribution of ETPs in Europe, 2014. Source: ACA

As the chart suggests, despite remarkable growth in the number of ETPs during the last decade, the percentage of students enrolled in such courses remains small. For Europe as a whole it stands at 1.3%, which amounts to about 290,000 participants across the continent for 2013/14.

A look inside the classroom

ACA tracked the student mix in these courses, and found that 54% of the total were foreign students in the nations in which they are studying. In the 2007 survey that percentage was much higher, at 65%, and in the 2002 survey the percentage was 60%. The reasons behind this 11% drop in foreign enrolment over the seven years is not entirely clear, but could be a reflection of economic factors in Europe.

However, there is still international diversity in the programmes. As few as 5% of the ETPs surveyed reported only domestic students enrolled. At the opposite end, 10% of ETPs stated that all the students were from outside their own country.

Comparatively speaking, ETPs in the Baltics and in Southeast Europe tend to enrol domestic students, while those in the Nordic region and Central West Europe enrol more foreign students.

In terms of classroom make-up, the survey found that students from Europe formed by far the largest cohort in European ETPs. Below is a breakdown of students’ regional origins:

ETP enrolment in Europe by the students’ region of origin. Source: ACA

The 14% Asian grouping is composed of 4% from China, 4% from India, and 6% from the many other countries in the region.

The survey also tracked English language proficiency, and a large majority of ETP directors rated their students as good or very good in this area. Domestic students fared better in these assessments than foreign students, and students in social sciences, business, and law fared better than those in engineering, manufacturing, construction, and hard sciences. On the negative side, heterogeneity – that is, variation in command of English – was viewed as a problem in classrooms.

Problems encountered with English language proficiency of students in ETP programmes (values shown are percentage for each category of respondent). Source: ACA

Some coordinators also reported other problems related to heterogeneity such as the differing expectations of students with regard to teaching methods. For example, expectation for more passive versus more interactive approaches, differing levels of subject area knowledge, and differing student academic practices and ethics.

Respondent expectations and motivations

While English language instruction is known to enable greater student mobility, survey respondents were asked to dig deeper and give specific reasons why they had adopted ETPs as a means of boosting internationalisation at their institutions. Essentially, these questions probed expectations, and charted reported effects. Some of the responses were as follows:

1. To do away with language obstacles for foreign students – i.e., to attract those who won’t enrol in a programme taught in the country’s domestic language;
2. To improve international competency of domestic students – i.e., to increase diversity at the institution, foster intercultural understanding, and better prepare students to be globally competitive;
3. To raise the international profile of the institution;
4. To attract top talent at both the student and staff level;
5. To provide high-level education for students from low-income countries as a means of development aid;
6. To compensate for shortages at the institution – i.e., to counterbalance a lack of enrolment by domestic students and/or to generate revenue from tuition paid by foreign students.

The survey notes that in general, revenue as a motive was cited least often, whereas altruistic considerations – for example in the area of development cooperation – played a surprisingly strong role.

The ACA survey also asked institutions their reasons for not adopting ETPs. Typical responses were:

1. Language proficiency issues – low levels of English among teaching staff and/or among domestic students; or, on the other hand, high proficiency of foreign students in the domestic language.
2. Type of higher education institution and/or discipline – English was deemed unnecessary, difficult to introduce, or incompatible with the discipline taught, for example music or the arts. Conversely, some institutions offer programmes with specialised terminology students needed to master in the domestic language, as is the case in teacher training or law.
3. Insufficient international enrolment and/or lack of interest among foreign students.
4. Contractual considerations – some institutions have established bilateral agreements with foreign institutions stipulating that incoming students master the domestic language.
5. Legal obstacles, for example arising from regional autonomy agreements, such as in Spain, which create difficulties designing study programmes; accreditation issues also exist in some countries, such as the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia.
6. Lack of resources.

Resources often relate to the size of an institution. Larger institutions have the ability to offer more programmes of all kinds than smaller ones, and are statistically more likely to offer programmes taught in English.

The survey showed that in 2013/14, only 14% of institutions with 500 students or fewer offered ETPs, while 52% of institutions with 2,501 to 5,000 students offered them, and 81% of institutions with more than 10,000 students administered such programmes.

Programme effects

The ACA tracked the effects of ETPs upon schools. The most frequently cited effects were as follows:

1. Improved international awareness of the institution (84%);
2. The strengthening of partnerships with foreign institutions (81%);
3. The improvement of assistance/guidance/advice for foreign students (71%), including the provision of information and services in English.

When asked in detail about the benefits to students, programme directors cited career benefits. Improved mastery of English in itself, apart from degrees earned, was believed to be a strong aid to future employment prospects. Respondents also cited as positives such as better networking opportunities thanks to a multinational student body, good preparation for international employment, and more mobility opportunities.

Interestingly, many programme directors also believed that one strong benefit of ETPs was the closer interaction with teachers made possible by the generally smaller class sizes. Under such conditions, they believed students received more personalised guidance, which in turn enhanced the overall quality of their education.

As a result of adopting ETPs, 56% of respondents attributed higher importance to promoting their schools, and to targeted recruitment of students in particular (54%). Institutions used a broad range of marketing measures and communication channels to reach students. The survey asked respondents to break their methods into two categories – those used by degree (i.e., methods used to attract bachelor students, as opposed to masters students), and those used according to target group (i.e., foreign as opposed to domestic students).

Providing information via university websites was the most commonly used method in both cases, followed by distribution of printed material, presentations at domestic student fairs/information events, entries in international portals/databases, distribution of information via existing networks/partnerships of the institution, and presentations at foreign student fairs/information events. In both categories, the use of agents in target countries was among the least-used methods.

The final study published by the ACA is a detailed document running more than 130 pages. It contains important details concerning collection methodology, before offering a large assortment of respondent data, along with the interpretations and conclusions of the authors.

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The report is based on a study of the policy environments in 20 countries as they pertain to their current ability to nurture such skills, and it looks at what is required to enhance their capacity to “ensure training provision matches the needs of the labour market.”

This şÚÁĎąŮÍř Monitor article will look at the findings of the report that underline the urgency of such training, as well as the challenges that must be overcome to provide students with a high quality of training that can serve them well in the marketplace.

Setting the stage

Right at the outset of Skills beyond schools, the authors note:

• “Nearly two-thirds of overall employment growth in the European Union (EU25) is forecast to be in the ‘technicians and associate professionals’ category.
• A recent US projection is that nearly one-third of job vacancies by 2018 will require some postsecondary qualification, but less than a four-year degree.”

Separately, by Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce finds that of the 55 million job openings in the US through the years to 2020 that will require postsecondary education, fully 30% will require some college or an associate degree. Not a bachelor degree or more than that (those qualifications will be required for another 35% of the 55 million jobs). No, the 30% refers to a shorter-term (of at least six months but significantly less than four years), specific kind of training required for particular jobs, with qualifications including certificates, diplomas, and professional bachelor’s degrees.

Even now the pressure is on to fill middle-skills jobs. Earlier this year, we reported Harvard Business Review’s finding that roughly half of the US labour force is engaged in middle skills jobs. HBR noted:

“Many employers still struggle to fill certain types of vacancies – especially for so-called middle skills jobs in computer technology, nursing, high-skill manufacturing, and other fields – that require postsecondary technical education and training.”

Emphasis on the training

The report notes that vocational and professional training programmes should be “driven by fast-changing industry requirements,” and that their linkages to industry be serious and strong. This appears to be a challenge – to varying degrees – across all the 20 countries studied, and that “work-based learning is too often weak and unsystematic.”

The report emphasised how crucial it is that industry stakeholders be substantially included in the development of vocational and professional qualifications to:

• Help ensure the job-readiness of graduates;
• Promote the ability of industry to identify and recognise the skills possessed by graduates.

Regarding its assessment that work-based learning is often inadequate in the vocational and professional programmes of today, the report recommended:

“All professional education and training programmes should involve some work-based learning as a condition of receiving government funding. The work-based learning should be systematic, quality assured, and credit-bearing.”

The report’s underlining of the centrality of work-based learning and integrated industry linkages is timely given the proliferation of vocational training schools and initiatives across so many countries of late. In our earlier post on middle-skills training, we reported on the significant expansion of and funding allocations to vocational and professional programmes in China, India, Malaysia, Thailand, and Saudi Arabia, as well as the UK’s dawning recognition that traditional educational pathways should no longer be the only option promoted to secondary students. The leader of the UK’s opposition Labour Party, Ed Miliband, said in a speech earlier this year:

“We know that the conventional academic route doesn’t work for everyone. Our research has shown that in other European countries, particularly in Germany and Switzerland, three-year, good-quality apprenticeships are a serious option for all young people. Despite some recent improvements, we still have a mountain to climb to match ambitions in England.”

Challenging old belief systems

Chief among the challenges facing the development of high quality, industry-recognised, adequately funded middle-skills programmes is changing the still-prevalent belief that three to four years of university education is the way to go to achieve success in one’s career.

The report pointed to a discrepancy between the real skills demanded by today’s labour markets and the outdated convictions of many teachers and parents that university education is the prestigious – and thus only – option.

Speaking to University World News, Stefan Wolter, chair of the OECD’s group of experts on technical education, said:

“ according to their own aptitudes and skills and less in terms of parents’ and teachers’ concerns about status.”

Such competing trends – i.e., the needs of current economies versus old notions of what constitutes “an education” – might be part of the reason that vocational and professional education sectors in many countries are developing unevenly and in some cases sluggishly. Such sectors frequently remain sidelined, the poor cousins of the university sector.

This points to a real danger in the development of professional education and training programmes: countries are now aware of their urgency yet not according them the respect, funding, profile, and systematic naming and branding of levels and qualifications they require to be viable alternatives to other forms of tertiary education.

The report sums up the problems it identified across the 20 countries studied like this:

“Often the sector is highly fragmented, with programmes uncomfortably poised between schools and universities, with qualifications that may not be well understood within the country – and certainly not internationally. Nomenclature is variable, and the institutional basis for the sector sometimes uncertain.

Qualification systems and frameworks do not always help transparency. The needs of adults for more flexible modes of study are sometimes unmet. Effective transitions and articulation with other sectors of education and training are often elusive. The potential benefits of competence-based approaches are not always fully realised.”

The OECD calls for “a clearly recognised international nomenclature” to improve the status of middle-skills training institutes and allow them to compete on equal terms with other educational options. As part of this, it recommends the adoption of the term “professional education and training” to brand the sector and to contribute to international recognition of its qualifications.

Structuring and funding the sector

Another factor that has hampered the profile of professional education and training, according to the report, has been its murky and all-over-the-place positioning – sometimes integrated into universities, sometimes out on its own and integrated neither with universities nor with industry. The report advises that professional education and training sectors be separate from universities, both in terms of their definition and their funding. It recommends the following:

“Professional education and training needs an institutional base that:

a) offers short-cycle professional programmes in a tier of institutions separate from universities;
b) makes use, where relevant, of the successful model of universities of applied science;
c) consolidates training providers into institutions of adequate size; and
d) provides a consistent framework of public funding for professional education and training, avoiding distortions, and backed by quality assurance.”

Strengthening and legitimisation of the sector

The report goes on to identify many other challenges to the professional education and training sector as well as recommendations. Many of these recommendations can be understood to have one theme – namely, a drive to further professionalise, standardise, and by default, legitimise the sector – with the following results:

• Its profile and image improves;
• More students see it as a worthy educational option;
• More employers understand its qualifications;
• The labour market receives more graduates with job-ready skills;
• There can be more structured and productive pathways between it and other educational pathways;
• World economies benefit from a greater diversity of graduates to serve its more multifaceted requirements for growth and prosperity.

As much as there are challenges, there are opportunities

As much as the report identifies room for improvement across OECD countries in terms of how they develop and treat their vocational and professional training sectors, it does so because of a very exciting fact:

There is a proliferation of jobs and skills demanded by economies across the world, and these allow for a wider range of educational options than ever before.

This opening up of educational possibilities also opens up room for more students to find satisfaction – and fulfilling careers. Not every student fits comfortably into the traditional model of education that culminates in a four-year university degree or graduate school.

It also opens up new opportunities for education providers and marketers as the growing emphasis on vocational and professional training that is reflected in the recent OECD report points to increasing prospects for the sector, in terms of both delivery in markets around the world as well as recruitment for study abroad.

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The broadest finding is that it is becoming more typical for the world’s students to attain at least secondary education and more common for them to pursue tertiary education as well. Younger adults are more likely to achieve higher levels of education than their older counterparts, especially in emerging markets. We will look at this trend briefly in the next section of this article.

But our main focus will be international student mobility trends. The publication documents enormous growth in the numbers of students studying abroad from 1975 to 2012 – particularly in the time span 2000–2012. Moreover, it reveals new trends in mobility, including the growing importance of intra-regional mobility and new or emerging destinations for international students.

Pursuing higher levels of education becoming the norm

Education at a Glance 2014 shows that roughly 8 in 10 younger adults (aged 25–34) in the survey countries have completed upper secondary education, (i.e., education that allows them access to tertiary education and expanded labour market opportunities).

As for tertiary education, attainment levels are relatively lower (roughly 3 in 10 adults have achieved a tertiary-level education) but they have risen by 10% across the OECD countries since 2000. Younger adults are generally more likely to have a tertiary education (40%) than older adults (25%), and in some countries, generational gaps are particularly striking. In South Korea, the gap is 52 percentage points between adults aged 25–34 who have completed tertiary education as compared to those aged 55–64. Wide gaps like these attest to the dramatic expansion of higher education capacity in recent years – and appetite for tertiary education – in many countries.

The report estimates that 58% of young adults in OECD countries will enter university-level programmes in their lifetimes, and that 18% will enter vocational programmes.

International mobility trends

In 2012, more than 4.5 million students were studying abroad at the post-secondary level – more than five times the number of students abroad in 1975. The average annual growth rate in international student mobility between 2000 and 2012 was 7%.

The number of students enrolled outside their country of citizenship, by region of destination, 2000-2012. Source: OECD

Some high-level trend highlights:

• The countries with the highest proportions of international students in their overall enrolments (more than 10%) are Australia, Austria, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Switzerland, and the UK.
• Asia is the source for more than half of today’s internationally mobile students (53%), with China, India, and South Korea the main source countries.
• G20 countries host 82% of all foreign students, and 75% study in OECD countries.
• Collectively, the US, Canada, the UK, France, Germany, and Australia host more than half of the students studying abroad today.
• Europe is the top regional destination, claiming 48% of internationally mobile students. North America follows with 21%, and then Asia with 18%.
• New destinations are commanding a higher and higher share of international students, while some traditional leaders are losing share (e.g., the share for the US dropped from 23% in 2000 to 16% in 2012). The Oceania region as well as Latin America, Africa, and the Caribbean are cited by the report as emerging destination regions.

Percentage of all foreign tertiary students enrolled, by destination, 2000 and 2012. Source: OECD

•  OECD countries receive far more international students than they send out. The report notes, “In 2012, the number of foreign students enrolled in tertiary education in OECD countries was, on average, three times the number of students from OECD countries studying abroad.”
• The language of students is a major influencer in where they choose to study abroad, and the current global dominance of English as a language of business/communication is thus a significant factor in the share of international student mobility held by English-speaking destination countries. “The prevalence of predominantly English-speaking destinations, such as Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States, in part reflects the progressive adoption of English as a global language. It may also reflect the fact that students intending to study abroad are likely to have learned English in their home country or wish to improve their English-language skills through immersion in a native English-speaking context.”
• Other important drivers of mobility cited in the report include: tuition fees (and intra-regional policies on this, for example, EU countries providing tuition fees as low as those charged to domestic students for international students from other EU countries); quality of programmes (with more and more attention being paid to international rankings of institutions); and immigration policies.

The importance of regions

Education at a Glance 2014 notes a continuing trend towards intra-regional mobility around the world:

“Global student mobility follows inter-and intra-regional migration patterns to a great extent. The growth in the internationalisation of tertiary enrolment in OECD countries, as well as the high proportion of intra-regional student mobility show the growing importance of regional mobility over global mobility. Student flows in European countries and in Eastern Asia and Oceania tend to reflect the evolution of geopolitical areas, such as closer ties between Asia-Pacific countries and further co-operation among European countries beyond the European Union.”

Distribution of foreign students in tertiary education, by region of origin, 2012. Source: OECD

The OECD also highlights the following as the main reasons students will travel beyond their home regions for study abroad:

1. The destination country is a leading and/or traditional location for study abroad (e.g., the US and UK). Their established reputations and international education infrastructures are well known and they have significant numbers of institutions on international rankings lists such as the QS.
2. The destination country has historic, cultural, or language ties with other countries, making it attractive to prospective international students interested in these (e.g., Spain and Portugal).

But, the report says, a destination country’s proximity to source countries – and associated marketing and policies (e.g., tuition, immigration) – is increasingly a factor in international students’ decisions as to where to study abroad. So:

“A large proportion of foreign students in OECD countries come from neighbouring countries. In all OECD countries in 2012, an average of 21% of all foreign students came from countries that share land or maritime borders with the host country. Higher levels of mobility from neighbouring countries are not only the result of being in a particular geographic situation, as in the Czech Republic, but may also reveal cost, quality and enrolment advantages that are more apparent to students in neighbouring countries.”

Europe is a prime example of the importance of region in international student mobility trends. As we reported earlier this year:

“Europeans account for nearly a quarter of all internationally mobile students and mobility in Europe, and the number of international students in Europe increased by 114% from 2000 to 2010.”

Not coincidentally, Europe has been proactive in its policies to leverage regional mobility flows, for example the EU’s 2013 approval of a major expansion of the Erasmus progamme (now Erasmus+).

For further examples of emerging patterns of intra-regional mobility, see also our recent reports on Europe, sub-Saharan Africa, and Southeast Asia.

With the emergence of regional education hubs such as China and Malaysia, coupled with continuing growth in demand for tertiary education across Asian markets, we can no doubt expect the global share of international students hosted within this key region to continue to grow over the years ahead.

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The report, called finds a variety of imbalances between inbound and outbound student numbers and notes that these are often heavily influenced by a country’s geographic location, language of instruction, and relative GDP of the country, among other factors.

The report’s findings were used as a key input for the Bologna Follow-Up Group’s (BFUG) Mobility and Internationalisation working group regarding differences and inequalities in student mobility in the EHEA. The analysis focuses on student degree mobility, defined by the authors as long term mobility of students with the purpose of completing a whole study cycle, and the acquisition of a degree (at the Bachelor, Master’s, or PhD level) abroad.

Global trends in student mobility

The number of internationally mobile students worldwide continues to grow rapidly. Earlier this year, we reported that the number of students moving between countries to study is likely to approach five million in 2014.

The EHEA report notes that in 2010, nearly three million degree-seeking mobile students were reported to the UNESCO Institute for Statistics, representing about 2% of the worldwide student population. Almost half of all globally mobile students study in a European country, with a quarter studying in the Americas. One in five mobile students choose a host country in Asia or Oceania, while only 2% study in an African country.

Interestingly, while European countries host 46% of mobile students worldwide, European students represent only 24% of the world’s outbound mobile student population. European countries as a whole are thus considered net importing countries, receiving almost two times as many students as they send.

In comparison, the region defined as Oceania – primarily Australia and New Zealand – boasts an even greater import-export ratio. Countries in Oceania receive 17 times more mobile students than they send abroad.

For Asia, the imbalance skews in the other direction. While Asian countries account for fully 54% of globally mobile students, they host only 13% and are thus considered exporting countries.

Destinations and origins of mobile students across continents, 2010. Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics

While over 83% of mobile students from the EHEA choose to study in Bologna Process countries, 17% choose to study in a country outside the region. Twice as many students from outside the EHEA (34%), meanwhile, choose an EHEA country for their studies.

European mobility trends

Some of the richest data in the report highlights imbalances in mobility between specific countries. For example, the UK, Austria, France, Switzerland, Denmark, the Czech Republic, Spain, and the Netherlands are above-average net importing countries, sending far fewer students abroad than they receive.

Hungary, Finland, Germany, Sweden, Belgium, Italy, and Armenia are also considered net importers, though their import-export ratios (a measure derived by dividing the net incoming mobile students by the number of outgoing mobile students) tend much closer toward the EHEA average.

Meanwhile, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Norway, Greece, and Portugal have relatively balanced import-export levels. (Data for Albania, Andorra, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Holy See, Montenegro, Macedonia, and the Russian Federation is incomplete as those countries did not report their numbers of incoming mobile students.)

Import-export ratios across the EHEA, 2010. Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics

Countries located in the southeastern and northeastern parts of Europe have more outgoing mobile students studying abroad than incoming mobile students, which makes them net exporters. Smaller countries like Malta, Iceland, Luxembourg, Ireland, and Liechtenstein are also net exporters.

Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, and Cyprus showed extremely high shares of outgoing mobile students (over 50%) as well as high levels of incoming mobile students (over 30%). “In the case of Luxembourg and Liechtenstein, the size of the country as well as of the higher education system itself could be explanations for these findings,” notes the report. “Cyprus’s size – but more importantly its cultural, geographical and historical proximity to Greece and the UK – can be seen as explanatory factors for the high share of students studying abroad: almost half of outgoing Cypriot students study in Greece and another 42% of outgoing Cypriot students live in the UK, the former colonial power.”

Austria – where one in five students come from outside the country – has the highest share of incoming mobile students in the EHEA. Students from Germany (36%) and Italy (12%; especially from the German-speaking communities in the province of South Tyrol) represent by far the most significant groups of incoming mobile students.

The United Kingdom represents the biggest net importing country of all EHEA states, and most EHEA countries send far more students to the UK than they receive back.

The greatest imbalances in this respect involve Ireland, Germany, Cyprus, and Greece. The Institute for Advanced Studies in Vienna, the centre that conducted the EHEA study, provides interactive graphs to better illustrate both inbound and outbound mobility flows for all EHEA countries.

Imbalances probed

While the ministers responsible for higher education in the EHEA encourage the member countries to work towards more balanced mobility, the report notes that the desirability of achieving balance (or maintaining a current imbalance) in mobility can differ depending on the perspective of the country. Policy goals at the state or institutional level, for example, as well as economic trends and other factors influence the degree of imbalance.

Imbalances can also be observed between specific geographical regions, with Northern European countries (Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Iceland, UK, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia) and Western European countries (Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Switzerland) classified as net importing regions, whereas Southern, Eastern, and Non-European countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, and Turkey) within the EHEA are net exporting regions.

Northern Europe hosts far more incoming mobile students from elsewhere in the EHEA than it sends students to other regions. The report also found that mobile students from Southern, Eastern, and Non-European EHEA countries in Western Europe significantly outnumber outgoing mobile students from Western to Southern, Eastern and Non-European EHEA countries.

Overview of absolute regional imbalances, 2010. Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics

Imbalanced mobility flows also occur between regions with varying GDPs per capita. Students from countries with a lower GDP (for example, in the South and East) tend to study more frequently in countries with a higher GDP (such as countries in the North and West) than vice versa.

Language was also found to be a factor, with incoming mobility flows to countries with English as an official language are not only absolutely but also relatively imbalanced. Students from non-English-speaking EHEA countries represent almost 5% of the total student population of Malta, the UK and Ireland combined, as one example, whereas outgoing students from these three countries only make up for 0.04% of the student population of countries with another official language than English.

Better data, please

The report concludes with a call for improved data collection that would allow future research to study imbalances in certain fields of study, across geographic regions within countries (for example, border regions or capital cities) and in specific language zones of a destination country (e.g. French, Italian, German mobile students in Switzerland).

These proposed additions, say the study’s authors, would provide a more nuanced picture of mobility within the region and highlight examples of imbalances at the sub-national level.

In closing, a quick note on the methodology for the current study. The report looks at two types of mobility imbalance:

• “Absolute imbalance” was defined by the authors as imbalanced mobility in terms of a net difference higher than 1,000 students;

• “Relative imbalance” occurs when the share of students from country A in country B in relation to the total student population of country B is greater than the share of students from country B in country A in relation to the total student population of country A.

For the sake of greater clarity in the more compact summary we have provided here, we have focused on absolute imbalances in today’s post. Readers who would like a closer look at calculations and observations concerning relative imbalances are encouraged to consult the .

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Early and vocational education

Czech elementary education takes places over nine years, usually between the ages of 6 and 15, comprising a primary and lower secondary stage, with children also given the option of attending a variety of schools utilising different types of educational programmes. Students also can apply to six or eight-year gymnasiums after their fifth or seventh year of elementary education, or attend a conservatory. These varying options for elementary education pave the way for the pursuit of higher education, at the secondary and university stages.

Upper secondary education is either general or vocational, takes place over four years and is not compulsory. Vocational education in this respect is more widespread than general secondary education – indeed graduates with a vocational certificate often decide to pursue work opportunities immediately instead of staying in the education system for further study.

The Czech government works to shape the vocational sector, for example in 2008 it published a laying out support guidelines for vocational education and training, followed in 2013 by a set of near-term organisational, administrative, and legislative goals planned to improve both the quality of the sector and participation levels in it.

The OECD’s report indicates that vocational education plays a major role in the Czech Republic’s education system, with secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary education of this type having over a  among 25-64 year-olds. The OECD report also notes that among 15-19 year-olds, over 50% are enrolled in pre-vocational or vocational programmes at upper secondary level.

Chart detailing the basic structure of the Czech Republic education system showing the various paths students take leading up to prospective university enrolment, or optionally, career commencement. Source: OECD 

The Czech tertiary sector

The Centre for International Services () notes that Czech higher education dates back over 600 years ago to the founding of Charles University in Prague by Emperor Charles IV. By law, higher education at public and state institutions is free of charge for citizens of all nationalities, except for the following:

• Administrating admission proceedings;
• Fees for foreign language study;
• Extending the length of study above a set limit;
• The study of an additional programme.

According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) Education At a Glance 2013, between 2005 and 2010 the Czech tertiary sector experienced the second-highest increase in expenditure among OECD nations, more than twice the average. More importantly for educators and agents, the numbers of students increased by 32%, again more than twice the average.

Increases in funding for higher education continued even during economic crisis in Europe, but eventually the system was targeted for changes. University World News reports how the Czech government under Prime Minister Petr NeÄŤas drafted a plan aimed at . The plan met with vigorous student protests and was scrapped in mid-2012. Since then, as BBC News reports, Mr NeÄŤas was .

The newly elected government, led by Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka, set out its opposition to introducing tuition fees, which the Czech Social Democratic Party (ČSSD) views as a profit scheme for banks and a debt trap for students. If Mr Sobotka’s governance is consistent with his party’s previous statements, higher education costs for students look set to remain low for the foreseeable future.

However, the fundamental question of what role learning institutions play and how they interface with the labour market are not permanently settled. concludes that Czech schools have reacted slowly to changes in employer requirements, resulting in an increasing number of school leavers without sufficient qualifications for the contemporary job market.

Czech students and international ambitions

Another OECD report – – offers a set of insightful statistical data about the Czech education system as it currently stands. Of particular note is the fact that the rate of idle youth (Neither Employed nor in Education and Training, or NEET) is now below the OECD average of 12.6%, from 17.1% before 2008 to 9.1% today.

This raises the question as to whether prospective students could be attracted, in greater numbers, to study internationally. With free schooling in the country, however, enticing Czechs to study abroad is not easy. World Bank data confirms this, pegging the percentage of Czech tertiary international students at 2.6% of the whole as of 2011, in the bottom fifth among EU member states.

A direct drag on outbound mobility is the Czech koruna’s (CZK) weakness against western currencies. In 2007, the government suspended a plan to adopt the Euro, a decision that gave the Czech economy some badly needed maneuvering room to help respond to the growing global economic crisis at the time. The Czech National Bank (CNB) has taken steps to bolster the national economy by , which has in turn held the koruna’s value low and raised the value of exports. Such measures, however, also makes study abroad a more expensive proposition for Czech students.

Even so, opportunities exist for those with good local contacts, as a on the website Radio.cz indicates. In an interview with Radio.cz, recruiter Klára Macíková, who works with the University of Worchester, notes a rising interest among Czechs in going abroad. Ms Macíková points out as well that there is little knowledge of the requirements for study abroad among Czech students, particularly with regard to financing that might be offered by overseas schools.

Speaking to şÚÁĎąŮÍř Monitor, Samuel Vetrak, CEO of details the extent to which students in the Czech Republic opt to study abroad. Mr Vetrak says that almost 12,000 Czech tertiary education students (approximately 3% of the tertiary student population) study abroad for one year or more (short-term programmes, such as Erasmus, not included). He notes that Slovakia is the leading destination, hosting 4,979 students from the Czech Republic in 2011, and notes that Germany, the UK, the US, Austria, and France are among other popular destinations. Mr Vetrak adds that “these six destinations attracted 80% of all Czech students” and explains the extent of interest and demand for study abroad:

“Approximately 80,000 young adults (18-25) are interested in studying abroad in the coming 12 month (all levels of study, 45% at university). Social networks and local teachers are the most-used channels of information. The highest demand is among those youngsters who have already studied abroad (9% of the young population). Educational agencies are the most popular booking channel, although this is less true in Prague or among those who have already studied abroad (such students are more likely to book online/directly).”

Student mobility to the Czech Republic

Turning to the question of inbound students, Mr Vetrak notes that the Czech Republic is a “significant regional hub within Central and Eastern Europe.” He underscores that, “over the last decade, the number of international students studying at the tertiary level has increased fourfold”:

“In 2012, the country attracted 39,696 students, with vast majority of these coming from Slovakia. Apart from Slovakia, countries sending the highest number of students are Russia, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan. The Czech Republic has been and is becoming increasingly a more strong study destination in Russia and CIS countries. The quality of education at some institutions and relatively friendly visa policy and marketing support from many educational agencies promoting this destination make the Czech Republic an attractive option in the aforementioned source countries. The country has become popular for tourists and business people as well, enhancing the popularity of Prague and Czech Republic too.”

This trend comes at a time when international interest in Eastern European higher education is increasing. According to a recent New York Times article, medical, dental and pharmaceutical studies in the region are drawing students from abroad, and have contributed to a doubling of foreign students in the Czech Republic between 2005 and 2011.

An important change in the education sector

In February, the Czech daily Mladá fronta Dnes revealed that . Since most US teaching certificates are not recognised in the Czech Republic, many American teachers do not currently possess appropriate qualifications. But barring undocumented workers could create an ESL teacher shortage in the country, particularly because British teachers are much more reluctant to accept the lower salaries afforded language teachers in the Czech Republic (typically around CZK 25,000 per month [US $1,263]).

In a related development, Prague Post reports that in early March, Education Minister Marcel Chládek announced that , including part-time teachers of specialised subjects and teachers over age 55 with more than 20 years of teaching experience. Such measures would affect the 130,000 teachers in the Czech Republic, 17,000 of which do not possess the required qualification.

Going forward, the Czech news agency Česká tisková kancelář (ČTK) reports Minister Chládek , and to bolster its competitiveness in relation to other countries. To do so, he hopes for a budget increase, and has mentioned an increment of CZK 3–5 million (between US $150,000 and US $250,000) as a target. He also suggests that money could be raised from EU subsidies and by restructuring vocational schools or school leaving exams.

But after several years of government instability and accompanying policy swings that have brought the sector from edge of radical change to what now appears to be greater continuity of the traditional system going forward, the country may benefit most from a period of cohesive policy (and stable, increasing funding) that will allow Czech students to plan for their future. Events in 2014 will go a long way toward determining the extent to which that will happen, and will no doubt bear significantly on trends in education at home and patterns of international student mobility as well.

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