Trends in Education Access and Financing during the Transition in Central And Eastern Europe. Social Challenges of Transition Series.

This paper is one in a series of reports based upon data from the "Social Challenges of Transition (SCT)" database. This cross-country study examines empirical trends in access to and financing of education in nine Central and East European countries. The study substantially improves the understanding of the impact of transition on education systems, yet lack of comparable data limits the ability to address critical issues, including educational outcomes and qualitative changes in teaching methods and curricula. The paper investigates the impact of transition on education by identifying emerging empirical trends in access, financing, and delivery of education in the countries of Albania, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, FYR Macedonia, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia. Section 1 examines changes in access to education, as measured by trends in enrollments across education levels. Section 2 discusses the links between labor market developments and the education sector, highlighting the impact of structural shifts in employment on education. Section 3 discusses financing of education, describing changing financing mechanisms and trends in expenditures. Section 4 analyzes the changing situation for teachers in the region. Section 5 summarizes main findings and proposes directions for further research. (EH)