Education policies and performance of the Visegrad countries in light of their OECD membership: a comparative study (en translation)

Abstract: The Visegrad countries, i.e. the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia, have been historically linked to each other and have followed comparable development paths. Apart from their recent cooperation in the Visegrad Group (V4), they went through the EU accession process in parallel (1993-2004), and joined the OECD within a few years’ time (1995-2000). These processes have all impacted these countries in their transition from socialism to democracy and market economy. Nevertheless, the outcomes of this process vary country by country. The OECD, an international organization targeting economic development in the first place, plays a key role in the development of education in its member states. In fact, over the past few decades since the V4 countries joined the organization, the OECD has revisited the role of education attributing it the role of one of the key pillars of competitive economic development. Accordingly, the OECD has promoted education development through its guidelines and measurement schemes. In this paper, the V4’s education policies and performance are assessed in light of their OECD membership. Quantitative and qualitative comparative analyses are carried out. As education is a long-term investment yielding results years after the investment is undertaken, we also seek to establish intertemporal correlations between the V4’s investments in education and their economic performance today and in the future.

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