Berlin, Sep 8 (DPA) A study of education round the globe forecast Tuesday that the world recession may paradoxically benefit societies, since it will prompt the next generation to get a better education.

The Education at a Glance report was issued by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Paris and Berlin.

The report also highlighted wide gaps in what governments spend on education, implicitly criticizing the low spenders. The data took several years to compile, so it does not reflect changes this year.

'As a share of total public expenditure, the 2006 OECD average for education stood at 13.3 per cent, ranging from less than 10 percent in Germany, Italy and Japan to the far higher figure of 22 percent in Mexico,' the report said.

The OECD says that years of research proves that school-leavers who go on to tertiary education earn much higher income in the long term, despite tuition fees, the cost of living as students and waiting longer for their first salaries.