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Education leaders around the world have called for better data to advance gender equity in learning.
During a session at UNESCO's first Education Data and Statistics Conference in Paris last week, UN officials, civil servants, academics, experts from nonprofits and other organizations discussed how countries can address inequality through data. We debated whether it could be done.
In an update provided after the event, UNESCO said: “High-quality and timely data and evidence are essential for policy development, planning and the implementation of strategic interventions to promote gender equality in education.” said. These will help countries identify and analyze gender patterns and trends and better plan and target resources accordingly. ”
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Many event participants cited disaggregated and cross-sectional data as key to improving gender equality in education, but many countries lack the resources to generate such data. He pointed out that there was.
Justine Sass, Director of UNESCO's Inclusion and Gender Equality Education Division, said: “To understand how gender norms and expectations change, we need to look at granularity at sub-national, national, regional and global levels. “More gender-disaggregated, cross-sectional data are needed to provide comparability.”and structure influences all “People's access to education, retention, and learning outcomes.”
Although indicators based on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 4 on inclusive education and lifelong learning take into account gender dimensions, Manos Antoninis, Director of UNESCO's Global Education Monitoring Report, said these indicators are based on intersecting characteristics. and pointed out that this could provide misleading information. Methodological flaws.
“Girls outperform boys in almost every county in terms of minimum reading proficiency among adolescents, but this gap reverses when looking at adult literacy.The significance of this difference is therefore debatable. “There is,” he explained.
To address these deficiencies and facilitate analysis of trends, Elaine Unterhalter, Professor of Education and International Development at the Institute of Education, University College London, said: Combining them will give you a richer image. ”
Mr Antoninis said it would be desirable “but not necessarily” to have comparable data collected by each country, but not all countries use the same data or survey types, and many It added that there was a lack of resources and capacity to generate robust data.
Of the benchmarks set to measure countries' progress towards Sustainable Development Goal 4, UNESCO found that the capital indicator was the second least reported of 11 indicators, with only 36 countries setting this indicator. It was discovered that %. Almost a third of countries (27%) cited lack of data as the reason.
Mr Antoninis said some governments will need access to financial and technical support to ensure effective data collection and monitoring and evaluation systems.
The Gambia – Moving from quantitative to qualitative data
Gambia's example has proven that with the right support, progress is possible.
Alpha Bar, head of education who oversees information systems and information and communication technology at Gambia's Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, said the government should “expand the gender perspective beyond gender equality and align data systems through a systems approach.” He explained that he wanted Quality was an issue.
With the help of UNESCO's Institute for Statistics and Global Education Monitoring, the Ministry can work with other government departments and departments to move “from aggregated data to individual data” and “go beyond quantitative data to include qualitative data.” said Barr.
Other examples discussed at the event included the Jamaican Ministry of Education's efforts to monitor high school dropout rates among boys and partially address the problem through curriculum revisions and nutritional support. Using household surveys across Latin America and the Caribbean to understand the socio-economic dimensions of educational access, retention, and learning outcomes. The Bridging Responsibility for Gender Equality in Education initiative led by University College London.
The latter aims to address the disconnect between global, national and local data collection and analysis and is supporting countries such as Indonesia, Kenya and Malawi.
Conference attendees also heard about the Global Accountability Dashboard, which monitors progress against key indicators related to gender-transformative education.
Launched in October 2023, the dashboard is hosted on the Population Council's Gender and Education Resources Evidence website and is part of the Global Platform for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Girls and Women.
Nicole Haverland, senior associate and director of gender at the Population Council, said it includes profiles of 193 countries and more than 900 programs, and includes “who's doing what, where, and what works. It is designed to introduce what is needed and where it is needed. Education, Justice, and Equity Innovation Hub.
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