Given the time it can take to mobilize around development goals and establish effective monitoring systems to track progress, the 2030 deadline for the achievement of the global goal on education is just around the corner. Nevertheless, there are times when it is wise to pause for a moment and take stock.
The UIS is bringing together key actors from across the international education community through two flagship initiatives that will be meeting in May to help set the course for the measurement agenda.
In many ways, education indicators are like a satellite navigation system that can help us reach our destination: Sustainable Development Goal 4. Based on the data, policymakers in the driving seat can select the best route and adjust their direction and speed as they progress or hit a roadblock. Ultimately, the success of the education system relies to some degree on the accuracy of the data used to inform decisions about how to best use resources to achieve goals
Children and adolescents with disabilities are more likely to be out of school or to leave school before completing primary education
Under the banner of accountable and participatory governance for delivering on Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4, Global Action Week for Education calls for citizen participation in education policymaking and monitoring progress.
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The UIS has published updated indicators for the cinema industry that include the results of the latest Feature Film Survey.
Conducted every two years, the aim of the survey is to meet the growing need for comparable data on innovation in the business sector, which is an important driver of economic growth. It seeks to identify trends, common features and dissimilarities among firms in countries at different stages of development.
The 2015 survey gathered data from 71 countries, including nine in Africa, in order to produce a range of basic innovation indicators to inform policies at national and international levels.
Ambitious goals demand more and better data, which is why the Inter-agency and Expert Group on SDG Indicators is meeting today in Ottawa. Experts from countries and international agencies including the UNESCO Institute for Statistics are once again reviewing the frameworks and work plans needed to help deliver on the pledges made for 2030. The good news is that just about everyone agrees on the strength and value of the education indicators. The challenges lie in producing them and disseminating them in a way that they are actively used.
As the Inter-agency and Expert Group Sustainable Development Goal indicators (IAEG–SDG) meets in Ottawa from 28-31 March, the UIS has released a paper that calls for a data revolution in education built on the foundation of national statistical systems and supported by a global compact for monitoring the global education goal, SDG 4.
Following the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) is working closely with Member States and partners to develop new indicators, statistical approaches and monitoring tools to better assess progress towards the SDG 4 education targets while making every effort to minimise the reporting burden on countries.