people and planet

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expanded list arose because the global indicators could not
capture the full range of global education priorities. Countries
are not required to report on the additional thematic
indicators, unlike the global indicators. Instead, the additional
indicators are meant to provide guidance as countries
consider more in-depth ways to track their progress.
The original list of thematic indicators was based on
an initial expert proposal. UNESCO and the UNESCO
Institute for Statistics (UIS) then set up the Technical
Cooperation Group (TCG) on the Indicators for SDG4-
Education 2030 to support their further development
and implementation. The TCG includes 28 countries
as members and 14 as observers, in addition to
5 international bodies (including the GEM Report) and
2 international representatives of civil society. It is
meant to be an umbrella group, incorporating bodies
dedicated to specialized areas of the agenda, such as
the Global Alliance for Monitoring Learning and the
Inter-Agency Group on Education Inequality Indicators.
The UIS serves as its secretariat.
For every thematic indicator in the framework, the secretariat
has provided detailed information on the definition and
sources and a preliminary classification according to the
availability of methodology and actual data. One of the TCG’s
first tasks is to address 8 of the 43 thematic indicators that
have already been identified as poorly aligned with the
target or difficult to implement. Initial decisions are
expected when the TCG next meets in October 2016.
The establishment of a permanent group for technical
cooperation, representing a large number of countries, is
a considerable advance in the international dialogue on
education monitoring, and fills a notable gap experienced
during the Education
for All period. At least
Countries must be given
two challenges lie
ahead. First, countries
a chance to contribute
must be assured
to discussions in the an opportunity
Technical Cooperation
to contribute to
discussions in
Group in an informed
an informed and
and meaningful way meaningful way. Their
active role in the TCG
is critical. Indeed, one
objective of the monitoring part of the 2016 GEM Report
is to serve as a reference document for such discussions.
Second, a mechanism is needed for future decisionmaking
within the TCG, to help reach consensus and
strengthen the group’s legitimacy.
AT THE NATIONAL LEVEL:
BUILD CAPACITY IN SIX KEY AREAS
Where do countries stand in relation to the emerging
monitoring challenges? It is essential for education
ministries and national statistical agencies not to
lose track of the big picture with so many competing
requests for their time and resources. This section
focuses on six key steps countries need to take to
strengthen national monitoring of education in the next
three to five years while concurrently contributing to the
development of a global monitoring framework.
Work is needed to address equity. Education management
information systems produce data usually based
on school censuses that fail to shed light on basic
disparity – in access, participation, completion and
learning – by student characteristics. But the rest of
the national statistical system can often produce highly
relevant information on education inequality through
household or labour force surveys. Unfortunately, these
two systems are disconnected in many countries so
education ministries lack the capacity to recognize
the complementary and critical nature of the evidence
produced by national statistical agencies. A classic
example is that education ministries are not sufficiently
involved in the design of national household surveys
and hence education questions are poorly formulated,
undermining analysis and cross-country comparisons.
This situation needs to change. Dialogue and
cooperation are needed between education ministries
and national statistical agencies. Target 4.5 requires
reporting on disparity through a series of education
indicators. Countries need to agree on a new mechanism
for this reporting. The work of the Inter-Agency Group
on Education Inequality Indicators can help initiate a
process for continued dialogue.
Definitions of learning outcomes need to be broadened.
Countries need to ensure the establishment of samplebased
national learning assessments that can be used
to monitor progress on a range of learning outcomes
over time. Such assessment frameworks need to be of
good quality and meet standards that the international
community can help define, regarding not only technical
aspects of reliability and validity but also openness and
transparency in the publication of results.
Countries will need good guidance to build assessment
frameworks to ensure they produce information to
improve teaching and learning processes. Reporting for
a global indicator would be a helpful by-product, though
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CHAPTER 23 | PRIORITIES FOR MONITORING EDUCATION IN THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS