14 February 2024
In an era where data drives progress, it’s alarming to discover that nearly half of the world’s countries are falling short in measuring children’s learning levels as they traverse through their educational journey. Shockingly, this means that a staggering 680 million children have had their educational achievements go unmeasured. These findings shed light on a global issue that demands immediate attention.
Particularly concerning are regions like Central and Southern Africa, as well as parts of sub-Saharan Africa and Eastern and South-Eastern Asia, where a vast majority of children have never undergone assessments of their reading skills upon completing primary or secondary school since 2015. This lack of data not only hampers educational progress but also makes it challenging to formulate targeted interventions to address learning disparities.
Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO, underscores the urgency of the situation, emphasising that with just under a decade until 2030, over half a billion children’s learning levels remain unknown. Additionally, 40% of countries struggle to report on the qualification levels of their teachers. She stresses the need for consensus on data collection to ensure that every child’s educational journey is accounted for, bringing them into the broader educational landscape.
Fortunately, organisations like the UNESCO Institute for Statistics have been working tirelessly to bridge these data gaps. Through innovative approaches and new models, they have significantly increased the number of countries reporting on government education spending, from 62% to an impressive 98%. These efforts have yielded valuable insights, revealing previously unreported data on out-of-school children in countries like Nigeria, Ethiopia, and Kenya, where data had not been updated for over a decade.
UNESCO has rolled out two ground-breaking tools aimed at reducing persistent data gaps and enhancing policy-making analysis. The LASER tool, for instance, meticulously maps out existing data gaps by country, pinpointing areas crucial for educational progress. Meanwhile, the Assessment of Minimum Proficiency Level tool offers countries a cost-effective and efficient means of filling data voids on children’s learning levels. Comprising 20 straightforward questions, this tool can be seamlessly integrated into existing national and cross-national assessments, providing critical insights within a short timeframe.
As the global community strives to attain the Sustainable Development Goal on Education, addressing the challenge of inadequate data becomes paramount. UNESCO’s concerted efforts in this regard are noteworthy, yet significant obstacles persist. By adopting a collaborative approach and leveraging innovative tools, we can advance towards a more equitable and inclusive educational landscape, where every child has the opportunity to thrive and succeed.
