Education

The SDG indicator 4.2.2 measures the education system performance on pre-primary access. This is currently not a tier I nor tier II indicator (which may mean limited availability of data or that data is not regularly produced by countries). Please check availability for your country of interest before using this indicator. The official primary school age will vary be country, so international data is not entirely comparable. For additional information on this indicator, please see the meta-data at https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/metadata/files/Metadata-04-02-02.pdf

The indicator measures the education system performance on school attendance. Attendance data is not systematically produced for UIS or other internationally comparable data sources, in part because of the complexity of measuring it. This indicator provides a measure used within the Global Education Policy Dashboard - https://www.educationpolicydashboard.org - World Bank (SABER program and WB Education Global Practice) - which is to undertake a school visit / spot check. For this measure, in the school survey visit, an enumerator visits a randomly selected 4th-grade class and calculates the share of students present by comparing the number of children present to the number of children on the roster. The resulting number is an estimate, given that in some countries there will be inconsistencies between the number of children supposed to attend and the number of children enrolled. For instance, there might be cases where children who attend regularly are not actually officially enrolled, which could lead us to overestimate student attendance. Other attendance measures should be considered where data is available, and in other cases primary data collection is likely to be required if attendance is chosen as a outcome indicator.

The indicator measures the education system performance on enrolment at primary level. The gross enrolment ratio (or rate) - GER - is one important measure. This is defined as the total number of children enrolled in a certain education level, regardless of age, as a percentage of the total population in the relevant official school age group. The overall figure will usually include both public and private school enrolment. The GER can be over 100% when there is a large enrolment of children younger or older than the official school age. Usually it can be disaggregated by sex, and geographical location (region, urban/rural). Please include additional disaggregation by maternal education level, disability status, migration status and minority groups - including language minorities - if data collection capacity allows it. Data are available in UIS, but if not, or not up-to-date, Ministry reports should provide this information.

The indicator measures the education system performance on enrolment at primary level. The net enrolment ratio (or rate) - NER - is one important measure. The NER counts the total number of enrolled children who are of the official school age group for an education level, as a percentage of the total population of the official school age group for that level; the primary adjusted NER (ANER) counts children of the official school age group for primary education who are enrolled in either primary or secondary education. Please include additional disaggregation by maternal education level, disability status, migration status and minority groups - including language minorities - if data collection capacity allows it. Data are available in UIS, but if not, or not up-to-date, Ministry reports should provide this information.

The indicator measures the education system performance on enrolment at lower secondary level. The net enrolment ratio (or rate) - NER - is one important measure. The NER counts the total number of enrolled children who are of the official school age group for an education level, as a percentage of the total population of the official school age group for that level. Please include additional disaggregation by maternal education level, disability status, migration status and minority groups - including language minorities - if data collection capacity allows it. Data are available in UIS, but if not, or not up-to-date, Ministry reports should provide this information.

The indicator measures the education system performance on enrolment at upper secondary level. The net enrolment ratio (or rate) - NER - is one important measure. The NER counts the total number of enrolled children who are of the official school age group for an education level, as a percentage of the total population of the official school age group for that level. Please include additional disaggregation by maternal education level, disability status, migration status and minority groups - including language minorities - if data collection capacity allows it. Data are available in UIS, but if not, or not up-to-date, Ministry reports should provide this information.

The indicator measures the education system performance on the gender equity of enrolment. This is part of SDG indicator 4.5.1, which is currently a Tier I or Tier II indicator depending on the type of inequity. Data availability should be checked before using the indicator. The index is reported as the ratio between the likely disadvantaged group to the advantaged group, where a value of 1 would indicate parity between the two groups. In the case of gender, females are assumed to be the disadvantaged group. The gross enrolment rate (GER) is defined as the total number of children enrolled in a certain education level, regardless of age, as a percentage of the total population in the relevant official school age group. The overall figure will usually include both public and private school enrolment. The GER can be over 100% when there is a large enrolment of children younger or older than the official school age. For additional information on this indicator please see - https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/metadata/files/Metadata-04-05-01.pdf Data are available in UIS, but if not, or not up-to-date, Ministry reports should provide this information.

The indicator measures the education system performance on the legal provision of universal access to pre-primary education, in particular to one year of pre-primary. This is a priority for the UNESCO Global Partnership Strategy for early childhood, 2021-2030 (see https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000380077). This information is likely to be available but the exact policy or legal document should be closely scrutinised to look at definitions of both "free" and "compulsory", and combined with enrolment outcome indicators if used.

The indicator measures the education system performance on repetition, a key efficiency measure. It is defined as the percentage of students from a cohort enrolled in a given grade and who study in the same grade in the following school year. The repetition rate is one of the key indicators used for projecting student flows. Repetition rates help describe the internal efficiency of the education system by describing the flow of students from one grade to another. The data need to be based on two consecutive years. Data are available in UIS, but if not, or not up-to-date, Ministry reports should provide this information.

The indicator measures the education system performance on drop-out. This is simply defined as the percentage of students from a cohort in a given grade in a school year and who are no longer enrolled in any education the following year. As the data are based on two consecutive years, consistency between the data collection and methodology used is crucial. Please include additional disaggregation by maternal education level, disability status, migration status and minority groups - including language minorities - if data collection capacity allows it. Data are available in UIS, but if not, or not up-to-date, Ministry reports should provide this information.

The indicator measures the education system performance on the costs to households of education. While education may be formerly free, there still can be many costs, including uniforms, school meals, fees for examinations etc. In addition, a proportion of the population will attend private schools for different levels, which itself may have implications for the quality of public school provision. This information is likely to be from household surveys, which may be available, so check before using. In some cases primary data collection is likely to be required. For a survey guidebook on measuring household expenditure on education see from the World Bank, December 2018 - http://uis.unesco.org/sites/default/files/documents/measuring-household-expenditure-education-2018-en.pdf The share of expenditure on education is also a Right to Education indicator, see - https://www.right-to-education.org/monitoring/content/percentage-household-expenditure-education

The indicator measures the education system performance on policies relating to school related gender based violence (SRGBV). A background paper for the 2020 Global Education Monitoring Report may provide some useful background information on the incidence of and strategies to address SRGBV (see - https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000374509). Global guidance on SRGBV available from UNESCO/UN Women here - https://www.unicef.org/media/66506/file/Global-Guidance-SRGBV.pdf This information is likely to be available but the exact policy should be closely scrutinised to look at definitions, the adequacy of strategies outlined, as well as an assessment of the practical use of the policy.

The indicator measures the education system performance on a key element of gender policy relating to pregnant girls or young mothers. This is an indicator monitored by Human Rights Watch, see for example - https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/09/29/africa-rights-progress-pregnant-students

The indicator measures the EU-funded intervention's contribution to innovation in the education system, with a focus on robust research. This would complement the indicator on number of studies produced and try to make a more in-depth qualitative assessment of how these are used and the degree to which they are used for informing policy and strategy. Reporting on this indicator should specify the qualitative nature of changes which the intervention brought about.

The indicator measures the EU-funded intervention's contribution to research and analysis in the creation of learning assessment data feeds into informing policy, as intended. Evidence should specify the qualitative nature of changes which the intervention brought about. The indicator would need to specify which specific policies and strategies had utilised new or improved information generated as a result of the EU-funded intervention. Reporting on the indicator should specify the nature of the contribution, whether technical, financial or other, and the level of attribution to the intervention. This could draw on the Data Must Speak initiative from UNICEF, aiming to improve the accessibility and transparency of data (see - https://www.unicef.org/education/data-must-speak)

The SDG indicator 4.5.2 measures the education system performance on ensuring children are taught in their home language where possible. As of April 2022, this is not a tier I nor tier II indicator (which may mean limited availability of data or that data is not regularly produced by countries). Please check availability for your country of interest before using this indicator. Methodological note available here - http://tcg.uis.unesco.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2020/09/SDG-4.5.2-Methodological-note.pdf

The indicator measures the education system performance on inclusivity as measured by the legal environment. This is a slight adaption to one of the Human Rights Indicators on the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), and would aim to measure whether disabled people are explicitly excluded from education.

The SDG indicator 1.a.2 measures the financing of the education system, and provides a key comparator indicator against other countries. In the 2030 Incheon Declaration adopted at the World Education Forum in 2015, signatories were urged to spend between 15-20 per cent of their total government expenditure on education (see http://uis.unesco.org/sites/default/files/documents/education-2030-incheon-framework-for-action-implementation-of-sdg4-2016-en_2.pdf). This is a Tier II SDG indicator (Indicator conceptually clear, established methodology and standards available but data not regularly produced by countries). Please check availability for your country of interest before using this indicator. For additional information, please see the meta-data at https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/metadata/files/Metadata-01-0a-02.pdf To note - not all countries will include pre-primary education or TVET in this calculation, if these levels are not part of the ministry of education’s budget.

The indicator measures the education system performance on education financing and provides a key comparator indicator against other countries. In the 2030 Incheon Declaration adopted at the World Education Forum in 2015, signatories were urged to spend between 4-6 per cent as a share of GDP on government expenditure on education (see http://uis.unesco.org/sites/default/files/documents/education-2030-incheon-framework-for-action-implementation-of-sdg4-2016-en_2.pdf). To note - not all countries will include pre-primary education or TVET in this calculation, if these levels are not part of the ministry of education’s budget.

The SDG indicator 4.5.4 measures the education system performance on financing education. As of April 2022, this not a tier I nor tier II SDG indicator (which may mean limited availability of data or that data is not regularly produced by countries). Please check availability for your country of interest before using this indicator. Total expenditure on public education divided by the total number of students enrolled as a percentage of GDP per capita (GDP divided by total population). This can be calculated for all education levels or for each level independently. Not all countries will include pre-primary education or TVET in this calculation, if these levels are not part of the ministry of education’s budget.

The indicator measures the education system performance on education finance for investment or capital expenditure (sometimes also known as 'development expenditure'). As a definition, capital expenditure is expressed as a percentage of direct expenditure in public educational institutions (instructional and non-instructional) of the specified level of education. Capital expenditure is for education goods or assets that yield benefits for a period of over one year. It includes expenditure for construction, renovation and major repairs of buildings and the purchase of heavy equipment or vehicles. More information on definitions available here - http://uis.unesco.org/en/glossary-term/capital-expenditure-total-expenditure-public-institutions This information should be available in UIS, but if not, Ministry reports and budgets may include this.

The SDG indicator 4.b.1 measures the education system performance on financing for scholarships, and is a direct measure of official development assistance (ODA). This is a Tier-I SDG indicator, meaning data should be available for most countries on a regular basis. For additional information on this indicator, please see the meta-data at https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/metadata/files/Metadata-04-0B-01.pdf Data on the indicator is also available in Table 6 of Education for All Annual Reports.

The SDG indicator 4.5.3 measures the education system performance on financing for more disadvantaged parts of the population. As of April 2022, this is not a tier I nor tier II indicator (which may mean limited availability of data or that data is not regularly produced by countries). So check availability for your country of interest before using. The current methodology document available here - https://tcg.uis.unesco.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2020/11/WG-F-4-Proposed-methodology-for-SDG-4.5.3.pdf

The SDG indicator 4.c.1 measures the education system performance on having qualified teachers in place. As of April 2022, this is a Tier II indicator (Indicator conceptually clear, established methodology and standards available but data not regularly produced by countries). Please check data availability for your country of interest before using this indicator. For additional information on this indicator, please see the meta-data at https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/metadata/files/Metadata-04-0C-01.pdf The quality of training is also variable across and within countries. Certification levels vary by country, so cross-country comparisons do not take into account the differences in qualifications. The percentage of teachers who are trained indicates the country’s commitment to training and hiring for improving education quality. This is available in UIS but not for all countries. There may be available more data from the national education ministry (EMIS), school census or special surveys on teaching staff, or other reporting from the Ministry.

The SDG indicator 4.c.2 measures the education system performance on having trained teachers in place. As of April 2022, this is not a tier I nor tier II indicator (which may mean limited availability of data or that data is not regularly produced by countries). Please check availability for your country of interest before using this indicator. The PTTR is similar to PTR but divides the total number of pupils by the total number of trained teachers at a specific grade or level of education. While the PTR indicates a concern about reducing the number of children per teacher, it can hide problems such as hiring untrained teachers to fill teacher shortages. The PTTR thus shows a greater commitment to maintaining education quality. This is available in UIS but not for all countries. There may be available more data from the national education ministry (EMIS), school census or special surveys on teaching staff, or other reporting from the Ministry.

The indicator measures the education system performance on having trained teachers in place. This is SDG indicator 4.c.3, which is currently not a tier I nor tier II indicator (which may mean limited availability of data or that data is not regularly produced by countries). So check availability for your country of interest before using. This is available in UIS but not for all countries. There may be available more data from the national education ministry (EMIS), school census or special surveys on teaching staff, or other reporting from the Ministry.

The SDG indicator 4.c.6 measures the education system performance on teacher attrition. As of April 2022, this is not a tier I nor tier II indicator (which may mean limited availability of data or that data is not regularly produced by countries). Please check data availability for your country of interest before using this indicator. This is available in UIS but not for all countries. There may be available more data from the national education ministry (EMIS), school census or special surveys on teaching staff, or other reporting from the Ministry.

The indicator measures the education system performance on gender balance in the education management. This would be via the measure of the proportion of women and men in school management positions. Data from the World Management Survey (WMS) indicate that female principals are associated with higher management quality, which suggests the presence of barriers to female promotion (see https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1741143220918258) Low amounts of female in school management positions may indicate barriers that programming can address. This information should be available from Ministry reports or directly from EMIS.

The indicator measures the education system performance on inclusion for people with disabilities in the teacher profession. This is one of the Human Rights Indicators on the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). Institution type can include public/private, and be disaggregated by level - primary/secondary/tertiary/vocational. It is likely that this information will not be directly available, so primary data collection may be required. For more information see Washington Group on Disability Statistics - https://www.washingtongroup-disability.com

The indicator measures the education system performance on teachers' skills. This indicator can draw from the Global Education Policy Dashboard - https://www.educationpolicydashboard.org - World Bank (SABER program and WB Education Global Practice). To measure teachers’ pedagogical skills, the GEPD uses Teach, a World Bank-developed classroom observation tool. This is a new instrument designed to capture the quality of teaching in low- and middle-income countries (see Molina et al. 2018 - https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/464361543244734516/pdf/WPS8653.pdf). The tool captures (i) the time teachers spend teaching and the extent to which students are on task, and (ii) the quality of teaching practices that help develop students’ socioemotional and cognitive skills. More specifically, it measures 

1. Time on Task, 
2. Classroom Culture (supportive learning environment, positive behavioral expectations),
3. Instruction (lesson facilitation, checks for understanding, feedback, critical thinking), and
4. Socioemotional skills (autonomy, perseverance, and social & collaborative skills). 

A randomly selected 4th-grade class is recorded during the school visit, and the video is then scored using the Teach tool. It is possible secondary data will be available from the World Bank (or other) on this indicator, however if not, primary data collection will be required for this or a similar indicator to be developed.

The indicator measures the education system performance on accessibility and provision for children with hearing impairments. This is one of the Human Rights Indicators on the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). Can be disaggregated by institution type. Institution type can include public/private, and be disaggregated by level - primary/secondary/tertiary/vocational. For more information see - Human Rights Indicators on the CRPD, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) - https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Disability/SDG-CRPD-Resource/IndicatorsPDF/article-24-indicators-en.pdf. Reporting on the indicator should specify the nature of the contribution, whether technical, financial or other, and the level of attribution to the intervention. It is possible secondary data will be available from the Ministry on this indicator, however if not, primary data collection will be required for this or a similar indicator to be developed.

The indicator measures the education system performance on accessibility and provision for children with visual impairments. This is one of the Human Rights Indicators on the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). Can be disaggregated by institution type. Institution type can include public/private, and be disaggregated by level - primary/secondary/tertiary/vocational. For more information see - Human Rights Indicators on the CRPD, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) - https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Disability/SDG-CRPD-Resource/IndicatorsPDF/article-24-indicators-en.pdf. Reporting on the indicator should specify the nature of the contribution, whether technical, financial or other, and the level of attribution to the intervention. It is possible secondary data will be available from the Ministry on this indicator, however if not, primary data collection will be required for this or a similar indicator to be developed.

The indicator measures the education system performance on reducing gender discrimination in the curricula. As an evaluative judgement would be required, this indicator will rely on primary information, and therefore the use of the indicator or similar qualitative indicators on the curricula should be carefully considered.

The indicator measures the education system performance on inclusion in the national curricula. This is a slight adaption to one of the Human Rights Indicators on the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). All learners is intended to refer to all learners and including those with a range of disabilities. As an evaluative judgement would be required, this indicator will rely on primary information, and therefore the use of the indicator or similar qualitative indicators on the curricula should be carefully considered. For more information see - Human Rights Indicators on the CRPD, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) - https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Disability/SDG-CRPD-Resource/IndicatorsPDF/article-24-indicators-en.pdf. Reporting on the indicator should specify the nature of the contribution, whether technical, financial or other, and the level of attribution to the intervention.

The indicator measures the education system performance on inclusivity in national standards for accessibility. This is a slight adaption to one of the Human Rights Indicators on the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). Accessibility refers to those with a range of disabilities, and can include via buildings, classrooms, library, gym, playground, canteen, sanitation facilities, transport, equipment and forms of communication. As an evaluative judgement would be required, this indicator will rely on primary information, and therefore the use of the indicator or similar qualitative indicators on the standards system should be carefully considered. For more information see - Human Rights Indicators on the CRPD, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) - https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Disability/SDG-CRPD-Resource/IndicatorsPDF/article-24-indicators-en.pdf. Reporting on the indicator should specify the nature of the contribution, whether technical, financial or other, and the level of attribution to the intervention.

The indicator measures the education system performance on parental involvement in school management. It is possible this information is collected and reported in Ministry/agency administrative data and reports, however it is also possible primary data collection will be required.

The indicator measures the education system performance on instructional leadership. This can draw from the methodology used in the Global Education Policy Dashboard - https://www.educationpolicydashboard.org - World Bank (SABER program and WB Education Global Practice). As part of a School Survey, a Teacher module inquires about the teachers’ experience with classroom observations, pedagogical feedback, and support. For example, questions include: Has your classroom ever been observed? What was the purpose of the classroom observation? After the observation, did you have a meeting to discuss the results of your observation? Did s/he provide you any feedback? 

• The GEPD technical note can be found here - https://www.educationpolicydashboard.org/sites/epd/files/resources-documents/GEPD%20Technical%20Note.pdf 
• The GEPD Reference Guide can be found here - https://www.educationpolicydashboard.org/sites/epd/files/2021-04/GEPD%20Reference%20Guide.pdf. 

It is likely primary data collection will be required for this or a similar indicator to be developed, however it is possible secondary data will also be available.

The indicator measures the education system performance on access to education for internally displaced persons (IDPs) and/or refugees. This information may be available through disaggregated information from the Ministry. However, as education provision to IDPs and refugees may be informal, information may not always be readily available, and in such cases primary data collection may be required.

The indicator measures the education system performance on policy for the provision of education to conflict-affected populations or internally displaced persons (IDPs). The indicator should seek to specify the specific elements of sector plans (as well as policies and strategies) are targeted by the indicator, and the criteria which will be measured.

This indicator measures the education system performance on distance learning. This has risen up the agenda during the COVID-19 crisis and the shift to more remote learning, often requiring digital tools to access. This may need to be complemented by an indicator on Internet access for households with children, as well as disaggregation of such an indicator by location and wealth. This indicator in contrast also provides implicitly a measure of the software or applications for connectivity, and should also ideally be combined with indicators on the quality of digital provision from education providers. The indicator is likely to require more development if used as it is a relatively new indicator globally.

The SDG indicator 4.7.1 measures the education system performance on important aspects of the curricula (global citizenship, sustainable development). As of April 2022, this is a tier II indicator (Indicator conceptually clear, established methodology and standards available but data not regularly produced by countries). So check availability for your country of interest before using. For additional information on this indicator, please see the meta-data at https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/metadata/files/Metadata-04-07-01.pdf

The SDG indicator 4.7.2 measures the education system performance on HIV and sexuality education. As of April 2022, this is not a tier I nor tier II indicator (which may mean limited availability of data or that data is not regularly produced by countries). So check availability for your country of interest before using. Methodology document available here - https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000378963

The SDG indicator 4.a.2 measures the education system performance on the prevention of bullying. As of April 2022, this not a tier I nor tier II indicator (which may mean limited availability of data or that data is not regularly produced by countries). Please check data availability for your country of interest before using this indicator. Methodology paper available - https://tcg.uis.unesco.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2018/08/TCG4-41-Development-of-Indicator-4.a.2.pdf - The methodology is based on surveys of students on their experience of bullying.

The indicator measures the Internet penetration for households with children. The rise of distance learning in the period of COVID-19 makes this an important indicator of education access. With increasing moves to digital channels of access, including for homework, this will also be important for access to quality services in years to come. The indicator can be found here - https://data.unicef.org/topic/education/overview/ - from the UNICEF School-age digital connectivity data set. School attendance age is defined as 3-17 years old depending on the country.

The indicator measures the education system performance on integrating persons with disability into policy making processes. This is one of the Human Rights Indicators on the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). This indicator requires verifying concrete activities undertaken by public authorities to involve persons with disabilities in decision-making processes related to issues that directly or indirectly affect them in line with article 4(3) of the CRPD and General Comment no. 7 of the CRPD Committee, including consultation meetings, technical briefings, online consultation surveys, calls for comments on draft legislation and policies, among other methods and mechanisms of participation. In this regard, States must

• ensure that consultation processes are transparent and accessible;
• ensure provision of appropriate and accessible information;
• not withhold information, condition or prevent organizations of persons with disabilities from freely expressing their opinions;
• include both registered and unregistered organizations;
• ensure early and continuous involvement;
• cover related expenses of participants. 

For more information see - Human Rights Indicators on the CRPD, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) - https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Disability/SDG-CRPD-Resource/IndicatorsPDF/article-24-indicators-en.pdf. Reporting on the indicator should specify the nature of the contribution, whether technical, financial or other, and the level of attribution to the intervention.