people and planet

9
The Incheon Declaration requested an independent
Global Education Monitoring Report, hosted and
published by UNESCO, for monitoring SDG 4
“
”
in the other proposed SDGs, within the mechanism to be
established to monitor and review the implementation
of the proposed SDGs’ (UNESCO, 2015b; §18). The report
had already been identified as a follow up and review
mechanism in a United Nations Technical Support Team
inventory (United Nations, 2015b).
As the World Education Forum was convened only
three times between 1990 and 2015, the Education
2030 Framework for Action identified the SDG4–
Education 2030 Steering Committee as the main global
coordination body supporting member states and
partners in achieving Education 2030. The committee will
‘provide strategic guidance, review progress drawing on
the GEMR, and make recommendations to the education
community on key priorities and catalytic actions to
achieve the new agenda; monitor and advocate for
adequate financing; and encourage harmonization and
coordination of partner activities’ (UNESCO, 2015b;
§94). The framework also reiterates the mandate of the
report, including as a mechanism for monitoring ‘the
implementation of national and international strategies
to help hold all relevant partners to account for their
commitments’ (UNESCO, 2015b; §101).
OPPORTUNITIES AND
CHALLENGES IN GLOBAL
EDUCATION MONITORING AND
THE ROLE OF THE GEM REPORT
The global follow-up and review, together with the
thematic, education-specific monitoring and reporting
mechanisms, are an elaborate set of new processes
that will be developed in coming years. The Global
Education Monitoring Report (GEM Report) has a
recognized mandate to help the international
community, through established structures and
channels, to understand whether and how the world
is making progress in education. But while the report
is seen as having fulfilled its mandate during the EFA
period, the more complex new agenda will require
adjustments (UNESCO, 2016c).
The global education monitoring landscape is rapidly
changing with the expanded scope of the sustainable
development agenda. While a set of monitoring
indicators has been formulated, the methodology for
measuring many of them is yet to be developed. In
addition, many indicators only partly cover the concepts
that feature in each target. Alternative ways to measure
and monitor at the national and regional levels can,
and should, also be explored. There is a need for open
discussion and debate to help stakeholders move to
consensus on establishing a monitoring approach.
The role of the GEM Report is crucial in that respect.
Between 2002 and 2015, as the EFA Global Monitoring
Report, it took a critical look at global progress in
education and lifelong learning, using available indicators,
questioning their usefulness, reflecting on the quality of
sources and introducing new ways of looking at evidence
and advocating for improvement. These are functions the
new series will continue to carry out in coming years.
The GEM Report recognizes the strengths of measurement
and the demand for it – as well as its limits – but also the
need for transparency. Indeed, the report team is aware
that indicators are not merely technical constructions
but also reflect overlapping interests, often of a political
nature. Given their potential influence on country efforts,
donor assessments and civil society advocacy, the report
will carefully scrutinize what indicators are reported and
how they are interpreted.
Finally, the monitoring part of this report has
acknowledged limitations. While it tries to address
the full spectrum of education provision from a global
perspective, many, if not most, major issues in education
2016 • GLOBAL EDUCATION MONITORING REPORT 175