Silvia Montoya, Director of the UNESCO Institute for Statistics and Co-chair of the Technical Cooperation Group on SDG 4–Education 2030 Indicators

We work on a daily basis with governments, national statistical offices, UN partners and civil society organizations around the world to standardise the methodologies and produce the data needed to monitor progress towards Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4. I must admit that there are moments when the challenges seem daunting, especially when only one-half of the data needed to produce the indicators are currently available. But daunting does not mean insurmountable. The trick lies in prioritising and defining a clear strategy to get the job done.

Fortunately, the strategy is in place as shown in our recent report, Laying the Foundation to Measure SDG 4–Education 2030. For each target, we clearly identify the measurement challenges before showing the way forward through collaborative initiatives, such as the Global Alliance to Monitor Learning (GAML) and the Technical Cooperation Group (TCG) on SDG 4–Education 2030 Indicators.

Both initiatives will be meeting in about six weeks to bring together government representatives and technical experts from every region. In particular, the TCG will be reviewing the global and thematic indicators and establishing a type of “priority list” for us to focus on with countries and partners.

We need your feedback

To prepare for these discussions, we developed a survey for the TCG members. As you can imagine, we want and need your feedback!

Through this survey, tell us what you think about each set of indicators. Do they adequately capture the scope of the relevant target? What changes, if any, are needed? Do we need additional indicators? If so, what might they be? You also have an opportunity to provide feedback on each of the thematic indicators individually.

The survey is divided into two parts:

Part 1: Your feedback on the set of indicators proposed for each target

Part 2: Your comments on individual thematic indicators

Your input will feed directly into the discussions of the TCG, which will meet from 26-28 October in Washington, DC. Stay tuned through this blog for the results!

Please note that the survey will close on 30 September 2016.

For more information, please contact a.kennedy@unesco.org