ng telecommunication Surveillance centre and/or medical centre Smart sheltered house Local helper Electronic village community Shops Restaurant Deliveries The paid carer or local helper concept is being pursued in some countries as a way of increasing employment while providing care. In principle, a local helper is paid for part-time work to provide essential help for moving, lifting and cleaning as well as acting on alarms - for instance a window or door has been left open, or a health crisis is taking place and the helper can be first on the scene. This implies tele-monitoring alarms and video surveillance routed to the helper (via a cellular mobile/AWT handset) as well as to a central monitoring centre. Education Education and lifelong learning are key factors in the development of our future economy - a fact increasingly recognised in both developed and developing countries. In OECD countries, educational attainment continues to grow among the adult population, with a growing number of young people obtaining secondary level qualifications. Progress in higher education is more mixed although the total pool of graduates in OECD countries is growing. Graduation rates vary from less than 20% in Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany and Turkey to more than 40% in Australia, Denmark, Finland, Iceland and Poland. INFRASTRUCTURE TO 2030: TELECOM, LAND TRANSPORT, WATER AND ELECTRICITY - ISBN 92-64-02398-4 - © OECD 2006 2. TELECOMS INFRASTRUCTURE TO 2030 Thus, to increase participation and graduation rates, education systems must offer more education to more students and pupils with less funds. Yet they must increasingly support ongoing education throughout life in most OECD economies, new types of less formal courses, and higher quality learning environments. As well as most educational institutions being under pressure economically, there is a general change from learning by rote towards creating individual learning environments, suited to the pace of each student for a more thorough and interesting education. Trainin