1. Education statistics in the Arab States Hendrik van der Pol Director, UNESCO Institute for Statistics

2. 2 UIS: who are we? n Founded in 1999; moved to the Montreal in 2001 n Areas of UNESCO mandate: è Education è Science and technology è Culture è Communication and information n Presence in the field – including a cluster advisor based in Doha

3. 3 UIS: what do we do? n Collect and disseminate cross-nationally comparable data n Develop methodological approaches and maintain international classifications n Monitor progress towards international goals such as EFA and related MDG n Develop national technical capacity n Advocate for use of statistics as part of evidence- based policy-making

4. 4 Why comparable education statistics? n To inform on national development plans (e.g., skill development strategies) n Sector-wide planning n Benchmark performance with other education systems n Monitor progress towards national and international development goals n Advocate for resource mobilization

5. 5 Education statistics in the Arab States n Coverage problems by level è Pre-primary data (6 countries) è TVET data (7 countries) è Private schools enrolment (7 countries) è Higher education statistics (6 countries) According to UNESCO regional groupings, the Arab States comprises of 20 Member States.

6. 6 Data gaps in the Arab States region

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8. 8 Institutional arrangements for educational provision n Education statistical system in the Arab States: è Central systems (Ministry of Education) covers all level of education in only 6 countries è Separate higher education systems in 11 countries è Independent TVET systems in 7 countries

9. 9 Outcome of institutional fragmentation n Lack of coherent statistics across the education system è Different data collection methodologies (unmatched underlying data, i.g. financial data) è Different reference periods è Scope of information is unclear n Scattered information reporting

10. 10 Recommendation n Countries should further develop sector- wide systems for education statistics n This can be achieved through: è Better coordination among all stakeholders è Appropriate legislative frameworks è Development of technical capacity

11. 11 Thank you شكراً لكم www.uis.unesco.org