Paris - It might sound like a well-worn cliché, but studying does pay off in the Czech Republic. It's as simple as this: people with a university diploma to their name earn here a lot more than those without one.
Only Hungary and Ireland has sharper differences in salaries between those who pursued tertiary education and those who did not.
These are the findings of a study which was published by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) earlier this week.
In 2005 Czech university graduates were earning 85 per cent more than people who did not reach higher on the education ladder than to secondary school.
In Hungary, where the salary gap is most pronounced, a college diploma guarantees on the average 116 per cent more money for its holder, in Ireland the difference is 86 per cent.
The Czech Republic ranks third, followed by the United States (83 per cent), Portugal (79 per cent) and the United Kingdom (77 per cent).
The existence of the pay gap in the Czech Republic and elsewhere shows according to the OECD that "the demand for highly qualified workforce greatly exceeds its ready supply".
It is certainly very true for the Czech Republic where the percentage of people studying at universities is still much lower than what is common in other developed countries, the study further shows.
And it would pose no danger to those without a college diploma if there were more people graduating from Czech universities.
Quite the opposite, say the OECD experts: the economy grows faster when it has a sufficient number of highly qualified workers. And it then also makes it easier for the less qualified workforce to find jobs.
