OECD Urges Education And Energy Reforms in Iceland

According to the new report by the OECD, a number of reforms are needed to maintain quality of life in Iceland. The state of education is a particular concern, reports RÚV.

Iceland received generally positive marks in the newly released OECD economic report, presented on June 26. The report places particular emphasis on education, energy issues, and reforms to the business regulatory framework. Secretary General of the OECD Mathias Cormann said he was personally surprised by the poor state of education in Iceland, describing it as a cause for concern. While the country benefits from strong economic stability and broad social cohesion, he warned that shortcomings in the education system could pose a threat to that stability in the future.

Mathias noted that as the number of immigrants rises and more primary school pupils have parents who do not speak Icelandic, the gap between them and native students is widening. He stressed that this divide is already considerably larger than in other OECD countries.

The OECD recommends introducing standardised assessments in primary schools to better evaluate individual school performance, citing Icelandic students’ weak results in PISA tests.

Daði Már Kristófersson, Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs, welcomed the OECD’s recommendations, saying they align well with the government’s current priorities — particularly in the fields of energy and education.