Focusing on the quality of education could have more impact than increasing the number of years pupils spend in school.

From the Asian Development Bank’s Key Indicators for Asia and the Pacific 2015 report:

Projections imply that if developing Asian economies focus on achieving levels of basic skills that match those in OECD economies (Scenario 2), rather than focusing on ensuring greater access that raises years of schooling to OECD levels while maintaining current skill levels (Scenario 1), growth could be substantially higher …. Moreover, by focusing on top-end skills where at least 15% of the population achieves test scores over 600 similar to OECD economies, growth could be at least 30% higher than just focusing on improving basic skills (Scenario 3). (p. 13)

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EDUCATION POLICIES of the national government had mixed results in raising the skills of its working population, boosting their employment prospects, and improving access to schools, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said in a new report.