This digest is the second in an annual series produced by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS). In our first issue we highlighted the importance of data in informing the development of education policy within countries - a key step towards the achievement of quality education for all children throughout the world. The UIS strives to help countries collect timely data of integrity which meet the dual requirements of relevance to national policies and compliance with international data standards. This will permit regional and global pictures to be drawn and cross-national comparisons to be made. Improving the quality of education statistics takes time since many of the statistics can only be collected as by-products of sound administrative systems which are often under-resourced. Nonetheless, we believe that this digest represents a significant improvement since last year in terms of coverage, timeliness, international comparability and validity. We shall strive for continued improvements through our collaborations with the national statisticians - to whom we are very grateful – and our partner agencies. 

The digest utilises data from surveys and school assessments, alongside statistics emanating from the administrative systems.  Data are reported for the school years 2000/01 and 2001/02, and the accompanying CD-Rom (in English and French) also includes selected data and indicators for the two preceding school years:  1998/99 and 1999/2000. The UIS aims to incorporate other data sources which would help to provide a fuller picture of the global education system. We are also very interested in feedback on this digest so that we can improve its relevance to education researchers and policy-makers. 

In each issue of the digest, we include a topic of current importance in relation to global education statistics, and this time we look beyond primary education to consider participation at later stages of schooling. The last decade has witnessed substantial growth in global education digest 2004 educational participation across the world, particularly in Africa and South America. 

Nevertheless, inequities persist and are a cause of concern in both developing or developed countries. Although a child today can expect to receive 9.3 years of schooling at primary and secondary level, there is considerable variation across the world. In high-performing countries, another 2.5 years participation in tertiary education can be added, whereas in Africa the average time spent in tertiary education remains marginal. Thus a child of school entrance age in Finland, New Zealand or Norway can expect to receive a total of over 17 years of education; almost double that in Bangladesh or Myanmar, and four times as much as in Niger or Burkina Faso. 

The problem is even worse than it appears at first sight because school life expectancy overstates the achievements in countries where children repeat grades. More than 10% of pupils are repeating grades in 35 countries at the primary level and in 38 countries at the secondary level.  Thus considerable proportions of already scarce resources are being spent on children who are repeating grades. 

The analysis also shows that the expected years of schooling are highly, but not perfectly, correlated with the national income of a country. Inequalities in access to education occur within, as well as between, countries and we address the key question as to whether longer duration of schooling translates into greater participation rates. 

It is important to assess countries’ progress in relation, not only to the global goals, but also to their professed national standards. We present information on the national standards for compulsory education in order to judge the extent to which countries are meeting their own goals. 

We hope that the range of articles in the annual digests will serve to stimulate more detailed analysis of the data presented in order that we may, together with our readers, strengthen the foundations for evidence-based education policies.

Denise Lievesley
Director, UNESCO Institute for Statistics

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[English], [French], [Russian], [Chinese], [Spanish], [Arabic]

The data in the statistical tables is available using the UIS online database.

Contact:

UNESCO Institute for Statistics

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