Our education system gets an A for basic education but we lag behind when it comes to higher education. Canada gets a “D” in annual number of PhD grads, the same low ranking earned for over a decade. Though the number of grads specializing in math and sciences has been increasing over the past few years, we still get only a “C” in that area, too.
Also poor is the adult literacy rate. “Four out of ten Canadian adults lack the literacy skills necessary to be fully competent in most jobs in our modern economy,” the report states.
Canada ranks eighth in low-level adult literacy, but no country got an A grade. “There are no superstars on this indicator,” the report says. Sweden got the best results, but nearly 30 per cent of adults there have low-level literacy skills. Italy was the worst, with eight in 10 adults lacking everyday literacy skills.
Government planning becomes more important in supporting math and science careers, especially at the PhD level. That’s crucial if the country is going to improve its ranking in another area of the How Canada Performs project – innovation, where we’ve earned a steady “D” since the 1980s. “Blackberry is the exception, not the rule,” the report warns.
- Canadian education results improved to an “A” grade. Canada ranks 2nd among 17 peer countries.
- Canada has been delivering a high-quality education to people between the ages of 5 and 25 with comparatively modest spending. Canada’s high-school graduation rate is relatively high.
- To move ahead of Finland, Canada needs to produce more Ph.D.s and graduates in disciplines that support innovation, while pushing to improve the adult literacy rate.
Source: http://www.conferenceboard.ca/HCP/Details/education.aspx#class
