Education, Science and Technology > Education, Training, Science & Technology > Education
Education Statistics in Latin America and the Caribbean
By R. W. McMeekin (03/98, EDU-104, En, Es)
This report summarizes the results of a study of the status of education statistics in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), financed by the Ford Foundation and implemented by UNESCO's Regional Office for Education in Latin America and the Caribbean (UNESCO-Santiago). The study is designed as the first stage of a longer-term program to improve educational statistics in the Latin America and the Caribbean. According to the original concept, subsequent stages would establish consensus on technically sound, feasible designs of statistical systems and education indicators; and would disseminate this information and promote exchanges of information on education statistics, indicators and management information systems among countries of the region.
The present study is one result of a meeting of donor organizations held in Washington, D.C. in January, 1996, that considered the issue of coordination of aid to education in the LAC region. The meeting concluded that the donors should undertake coordinated activities in three areas, the first and highest-priority of these being the improvement of education statistics. At the Seventh Conference of Ministers of Education of Latin America and the Caribbean (MINEDLAC VII) in Kingston, Jamaica in May, 1996, the ministers also recommended actions to improve education statistics. UNESCO-Santiago prepared a proposal for a project to carry out this first or diagnostic phase of such a program, which was approved by the Ford Foundation in July of 1996.
The objectives of the project are: 1) to survey and describe the status of national and regional education statistics programs and related activities, including existing efforts of donor organizations to improve statistics; 2) to gather information on best practices throughout the region and the world that might be adapted for in LAC, and; 3) to lay the groundwork for later activities aimed at improving statistical systems and indicators in LAC; and for sub-regional seminars and other activities to disseminate the information gathered. This report summarizes the findings of the study.
The long-run goal of the proposed program is to improve education statistics and indicators throughout LAC. It is essential to recognize, however, that such improvement will ultimately depend on the countries themselves. The role of international organizations will be to provide leadership, stimulate the exchange of information on how to improve statistics and indicators, and provide financial and technical assistance to the countries when so requested.
The intended audience for this report includes educational policy makers and statistical professionals in the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean representatives of donor organizations, and others with an interest in improving educational statistics. A draft of the report was circulated for comment to the project's Advisory Board, composed largely of representatives of donor agencies, and was discussed at the May, 1997 meeting in Washington mentioned above. This final version of the report incorporates the suggestions made at that meeting, including participants' views on the next steps that should be taken toward the long-term goal of improving education statistics in the region.
About the Author: R. W. McMeekin is affiliated with the UNESCO education statistics project and is the principal investigator for the Chile, Jamiaca and Ecuador country studies.
Last updated: 04/06/07
