Ei-iE

Join a global consultation on education indicators for a global agenda

by Albert Motivans, UNESCO Institute for Statistics

Today, we are launching a new online consultation to gather your views on the proposed post-2015 global education indicators. The proposed indicators have been drawn together by a Technical Advisory Group (TAG) coordinated by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS). It includes members from the EFA Global Monitoring Report, the OECD, UNESCO, UNICEF and the World Bank.

In the run-up to 2015, several initiatives are underway to formulate a new set of goals and targets for sustainable development. Based on consultations with member states, the Open Working Group (OWG) has released a proposal for the entire development agenda, which covers a wide range of issues, from the eradication of poverty to environmental conservation and education.

Help shape the post-2015 education agenda

In parallel to the OWG initiative, the international education community is also helping to shape the targets of a new post-2015 education agenda through Education for All (EFA) mechanisms. Their contributions are presented in the Muscat Agreement of the Global EFA Meeting that took place in Oman in May 2014. The targets of the agreement are closely aligned with the education targets formulated by the OWG.

How to measure the new post-2015 targets?

The challenge now lies in developing indicators to monitor these targets. In response, the EFA Steering Committee set up a Technical Advisory Group(TAG) in March 2014 to propose a set of indicators that could be used for global monitoring. The TAG is coordinated by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), and includes members from the EFA Global Monitoring Report, the OECD, UNESCO, UNICEF, and the World Bank. The group released an initial proposal in July 2014.

In proposing indicators, the TAG identified two key criteria:

• Alignment: To what extent does the indicator measure accurately and fully all the concepts that are included in the target?
• Global comparability: Does the concept have the same meaning in all places? Can it be measured in the same way in all places? Are the data collected in the same way globally, in a sufficiently large number of countries, and on a regular basis?

Today, the TAG has released an updated version of the document entitled Towards indicators for a post-2015 education Framework, which incorporates and responds to concepts introduced by the OWG, Muscat Agreement and the Sustainable Development Solutions Network.

The document uses a ‘traffic light’ system to score the proposed indicators according to the criteria of alignment and comparability. Some indicators will require considerable methodological work and national capacity development in the coming years if they are to be used for global monitoring purposes, i.e. to inform on country progress. New indicators may also be needed to better capture the meaning behind the proposed target.

Join the online consultation on the post-2015 education indicators

We would like to hear your views on this report through a global consultation, which will run from 17 November 2014 to 30 January 2015. The TAG is particularly keen to receive your thoughts on the four questions below. We very much welcome the views of governments, international organizations, non-governmental organizations, researchers, teachers, youth and anyone with an interest in education.

We invite the international education community to respond to the following questions:

1.       For each target, does the report identify the best indicators that are most aligned with the concept and are already being tracked in a large number of countries?

2.       What new indicators could be developed to be more closely aligned with the proposed targets and have the potential to be globally comparable?

3.       If you were to select one input, one output, and one outcome indicator for each target, which ones would you prioritize?

4.       Are there key issues that the document has not addressed in a satisfactory way or other issues that also need to be taken into consideration?

How to provide feedback

Comments to the TAG proposal must be submitted using the feedback form and sent via email to [email protected] with ‘Education Indicators Post-2015’ as a subject heading. We want to reach as many people and organizations as possible. So please help us ‘spread the word’ among your networks and social media, referencing #Education2015.

Following the consultation, the TAG will review the list of indicators based on your feedback. The final proposal will be submitted for endorsement at the World Education Forum in Incheon (Korea) in May 2015.The final documents will form the basis for discussions on the education targets of the sustainable development goals at the UN General Assembly in September 2015.

We look forward to hearing from you and appreciate your support in encouraging your networks to participate in the consultation.

Join the discussion on twitter via@EFAReport @UNESCO @WBEducation @OECD_Edu @UNICEFEducation and#Education2015.