Equity in Education

International Observatory on Equity and Inclusion in Education

Equity is at the core of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with Target 4.5 specifically aiming to “eliminate gender disparities and ensure equal access to all levels of education and vocational training for the vulnerable, including persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples and children in vulnerable situations.”

Yet today, many of the most marginalised groups remain invisible in education data at the global and national levels. This includes children and adults with disabilities, those displaced by conflict, child soldiers and labourers, as well as nomadic populations.

As the official source of SDG 4 data, the UIS has established the International Observatory on Equity and Inclusion in Education to foster and develop the methodologies, guidelines and research needed to build a global repository of data and standards to measure equity in education. This information is vital to help countries, UN partners and civil society groups to effectively reach the most marginalised groups.

Based at the UIS, the Observatory will operate through partnerships with research institutions and international organizations involved in equity-related issues.

Key objectives of the Observatory:

• Produce methodological guides for the measurement of equity throughout the life cycle;
• Foster a research agenda to develop a comprehensive framework for the measurement of equity in education; and
• Disseminate robust and relevant internationally-comparable data and metadata to better target research and policies.

Related resources and initiatives:

• World Inequality Database on Education (WIDE): presents education outcomes between and within countries with data disaggregated by sex, location, wealth and ethnicity;
• Inter-Agency Group on Education Inequality Indicators.