Luxembourg let down by education stats

(JB) Luxembourg has been ranked among the best nations in the world for its attention to human development, but it’s falling behind in its education standards.

A study by the United Nations Development Programme placed the Grand Duchy at 25 in the rankings, which take into account factors including national income, life expectancy and education levels.

Luxembourg was behind its neighbours, however. Germany was ranked ninth, Belgium 18th and France 20th in the study.

It appears that the main factor preventing the Grand Duchy rising up the ranking was its educational performance. Learners in Luxembourg are only obliged by law to study for 13.3 years, compared with 15.3 in Austria and 18 in Iceland. The proportion of the population leaving school with qualifications is also deemed low.

On average just 66% of women gain their high school diploma compared with 74% of men. Luxembourg is lagging behind compared with the average of countries ranked highly in the human development study, where 82% of women and 84% of men leave school with a diploma or equivalent.

The study found that Norway was top of the ranking, followed by Australia and Holland. Worst performing countries were Burundi, Niger and the Democratic Republic of Congo.