The challenge of measurement in education: the case of out of school children data
Charles GaleResearch AssociateEducation Policy and Data Center, FHI [email protected]
57,247,729
Number of out of school children, primary ages, 2011 (UIS Data Centre, accessed February 2, 2014)
2011 figure available
No 2011 figure available
Map created using Stat Planet (http://www.statsilk.com/)
Overview - data gaps and EFA goal 2
Source: 2013 GMR
Overview
How many
Data source
Administrative Household survey
primary-aged children
Variation in ‘primary’
Across countries Within countries
Over time
are out of school?
School coverage
Private providers Pre-primary
How many primary-aged children are out of school?
How many primary-aged children are out of school?
Data source
Administrative Household survey
Out of school rate, primary, administrative vs. household survey sources
Peru
ColombiaSyria
Cambodia
Morocco
Rwanda
Philippines
KenyaIndia
Ghana
Nigeria
Pakistan
Ethiopia
Mauritania
Burkina_Faso MaliNiger
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
2 47 7
11 11 11 1317
2432 32
34
4448
54
62
29
14
13
1
9
17
5
23
4137
13
23
42 44
56Survey Admin
%
Sources: UIS, Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS), and Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS) * ISCED 1 definition of primary
Effect of India discrepancy between survey and administrative sources on global total of OOSC, primary
Source for global totals UIS Data Centre (accessed 2/16/2014)Source for difference: EPDC (2013)
Series10
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
mill
ions
68.2 (UIS)
76.5 (UIS+HHS)India, difference between HHS and admin
Global Initiative on Out of School Children
“It should be noted that there is no one correct figure on out-of-school children. The numbers of OOSC from household survey data analysis and administrative data indicate the range of numbers of OOSC in a country” (UIS-UNICEF, 2014)
How many primary-aged children are out of school?
Variation in ‘primary’
Across countries Within countries Over time
ISCED 1 compared to national primary durations
Pakistan Brazil Nigeria Uganda India Kenya Ethiopia5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
Series1 ISCED 1 (1997) Country durations (where different from ISCED)
Source: UNESCO International Bureau of Education (IBE)
Chi
ld a
ge
Primary duration and entry ages, India, state compared to national
State or U/TPrimary Entry age
Primary Duration
Primary Age Range
% OOS local ages
% OOS ages 6-10
Goa 5 4 5-8 15% 4%
Kerala 5 4 5-8 7% 1%
Maharashtra 5 4 5-8 18% 9%West Bengal 5 4 5-8 26% 16%
Orissa 5 5 5-9 15% 14%
Punjab 5 5 5-9 20% 12%
Sikkim 5 5 5-9 33% 20%
Uttar Pradesh 5 5 5-9 28% 20%
Source: International Bureau of Education (IBE), EPDC extraction of DHS dataset
Number of out of school children, primary age, Burkina Faso
199920002001200220032004200520062007200820092010201120120
200,000
400,000
600,000
800,000
1,000,000
1,200,000
1,400,000
884,687
1,032,931
Source: UIS Data Centre (accessed 2/2/2014)
(2009)
(2010)
How many primary-aged children are out of school?
School coverage
Private providers Pre-primary
Enrollment in unregistered schools, Kenya
Source: APHRC (2008)
Pre-primary attendance by age, Kenya
6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 -
25
50
75
100
9 7 3 4
28
116 2
in pre-school out of school
Recommendations
Recommendations
Improve timeliness of data or adjust for time trends
Note: UIS estimates were current at time of publication
Banladesh 1990 UIS Bangladesh 2011 DHS DRC 1999 UIS DRC 2010 MICS0.0
10.0
20.0
30.0
40.0
50.0
60.0
70.0
80.0
27.3
15.4
66.9
25.6
Recommendations
• Streamline basic definitions– Household survey as alternative source for out of school children
numbers– Measuring school exclusion for standard age cohort such as 7-14
Ghana, DHS 2008 Congo (DRC), MICS 2010 Sudan, South, IPUMS Census 2008
Kenya, DHS 20090
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
16.0 20.4
66.2
7.8
24.4 25.6
71.7
13.4
Ages 7-14 Official primary ages
Recommendations
• Build a broad understanding of data quality concerns
References
Education Policy and Data Center. (2013). Out of school children: Data challenges in measuring access to
education. Washington DC: FHI 360.
Oketch, M., Mutisya, M., Ngware, M., Ezeh, A., & Epari, C. (2008b). Pupil school mobility in urban Kenya
(APHRC Working Paper No. 38). Nairobi: African Population and Health Research Center.
UIS. (2010). Measuring educational participation: Analysis of data quality and methodology based on
ten studies. Montreal: UIS.
UIS Data Centre. Accessed at uis.unesco.org on 2/5/2014.
UIS & UNICEF. (2005). Children out of school: Measuring exclusion from Primary education. Montreal:
UIS.
References
UIS & UNICEF. (2014). Global Initiative on Out of School Children. South Asia Regional Study.
Kathmandu: UNICEF.
UNESCO. (2012). Youth and skills: Putting education to work. Education for All Global Monitoring Report
2012. Paris: UNESCO.
UNESCO. (2013). Teaching and learning: Achieving quality for all. Education for All Global Monitoring
Report 2013. Paris: UNESCO.
Thank you!Contact: [email protected]