Full Report - Subregional Office for East and North-East Asia - escap

MACROECONOMIC PERFORMANCE AND POLICY CHALLENGES AT THE SUBREGIONAL LEVEL CHAPTER 2
Box 2.5. (continued)
Figure B. Average years of schooling, ASEAN-6 and CLMV countries, 1960-2010
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010
Source: World Bank Education Statistics database (Edstats).
Total schooling, ASEAN-6 and CLMV gaps
Primary education, ASEAN-6
Secondary education, ASEAN-6
Primary education, CLMV
Secondary education, CLMV
in Thailand for primary and lower secondary education (UNESCO and UNICEF, 2012). The pupil-to-teacher ratio in CLMV
countries is almost twice as high as that in ASEAN-6 countries for primary schools, while the pupil-to-book ratio in key subject
areas also tends to be higher in the CLMV countries.
Investing in education
As highlighted by ESCAP (2001), human capital was a key factor in the “East Asian miracle”. Even in the 1960s when most
countries were at similar stages of economic development, countries such as Malaysia, the Republic of Korea and Thailand
achieved higher literacy rates and spent a higher portion of their incomes on education, compared with South Asian countries
and the least developed countries in the region.
In order for CLMV countries to fully benefit from the ASEAN Economic Community in 2015, the focus on education needs
to be enhanced. In particular, CLMV countries would be able to participate more actively in the regional production networks
with a skilled labour force. Employer surveys often cite the shortage of skilled labour as a major constraint. Studies also show
that education is an important factor in determining labour productivity. Figure C shows that labour productivity, as measured
by GDP per person employed, grew faster in Viet Nam than in Cambodia since 1985. This seems to be consistent with the
higher educational spending of Viet Nam (see figure A).
Given the budgetary constraints in the CLMV countries, more developed ASEAN-6 could introduce or scale up financial and
technical assistance to the CLMV countries in the areas of education and training. Currently, some ASEAN-6 countries operate
individual programmes, but a more systematic approach could also be considered; for instance, setting up an “ASEAN education
fund”.
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