New Capacity Building Projects to Bridge the Gap between Data and Policy

As part of UNESCO’s Capacity Development for Education (CapED) Programme, the UIS is launching a  new effort to help bridge the gap between national education policies, data collection and use.

In particular, the UIS is supporting countries to develop their own action plans to improve  the quality and use of their data to track progress towards Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4) –  quality education for all by 2030 – at the national level. This will also directly contribute to improved reporting of internationally comparable data.  

To achieve this, each country will develop an Education Data Platform, which consists of a national technical team and a steering committee of representatives from Ministries,the national statistical office, development partners and the UIS. Once that is in place, the national technical team, with UIS support, will map out all possible data sources – and identify data gaps – as part of the process of evaluating national statistical systems and capacity development needs.

This information will enable teams to develop a National Strategy for the Development of Education Statistics (NSDES), which will be reviewed by the steering committee. The NSDES will be a key tool for governments and donors. Governments will have a clear road map aimed at improving data quality and using the information for policymaking. Donors can see the most pressing needs for strengthening data systems and most effectively target their support. 

Together with UNESCO’s Education Sector, the UIS has recently launched in projects in Cambodia, Haiti, Madagascar and Nepal. Another six countries will be joining the initiative in the coming months: Afghanistan, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mali, Mozambique, Myanmar and Senegal.