About us

The Education Data and Statistics Commission was formerly known as the Technical Cooperation Group on SDG 4 indicators (TCG). Established in May 2016, the group serves as a platform to discuss and develop the indicators used to monitor the Education 2030 Agenda in an open, inclusive and transparent manner. In February 2024, the Conference on Education Data and Statistics decided the following:

TCG will be renamed ‘Education Data and Statistics Commission’ (EDS Commission)
TCG will remain the primary body for the coordination of the global education data and statistics
TCG will take forward the recommendations of the Education Data and Statistics Conference between its sessions.

The EDS Commission is co-chaired by Silvia Montoya, Director of the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), and Manos Antoninis, Director of the Global Education Monitoring Report (GEMR). The UIS hosts the Secretariat of the EDS Commission.

The EDS Commission is composed of 28 Members States (see composition). There is a rotation of the its members every two years and they are elected based on UNESCO’s official electoral regional groupings. Observers to the EDS Commission include focal points from all other Member States, UNESCO, multilateral organizations, civil society organizations, UN regional economic commissions, and regional organizations.

The EDS Commission works in tandem with the Global Alliance to Monitor Learning (GAML) to make recommendations on indicator development, and to use the different data sources through cooperation across partnerships. Members of the EDS Commission Working Groups and GAML Task Forces work collectively via emails, conference calls and meet regularly. The GAML has established six task forces, organized by target (4.1, 4.2, 4.4, 4.6 and 4.7) and another task force on assessment implementation and capacity development.

Key objectives

The objectives of the EDS Commission include the following:

SDG 4 global and thematic indicator framework development: Acting as the implementation body of the Conference on Education Data and Statistics, which sets the overall agenda, recommend, and decide on priority improvements; propose, develop, and endorse indicator methodological norms, standards, tools, and guidelines; identify needs and propose ways to develop country capacity; coordinate global efforts to improve data availability and quality; and collaborate with agencies and countries.
Other indicator development: Define and approve methods for other pressing data policies and management challenges identified by Member States not included in the SDG 4 framework.
Quality assurance: Assure data quality and timeliness, and compliance with EDSC decisions.
Support to global and regional entities: Work with the Inter-agency and Expert Group on SDG Indicators (IAEG-SDGs) and relevant regional organizations on the implementation of the global and thematic monitoring framework and coordinate the harmonization of regional monitoring frameworks, assuring the coherence of these processes.
Benchmarking process: Advise and monitor the development of the national SDG 4 benchmarking process.
Reporting: Report to the SDG 4 High-Level Steering Committee (HLSC) through its Functional Area 2 on data and monitoring.