Working Groups of EDSC

The mode of working of the Education Data and Statistics Commission (EDSC) is based on Working Groups chaired by EDSC members.

The groups will:

  • Develop objectives, indicator priorities and deliverables in an annual work plan
  • Meet at least twice a year and report on progress to the EDSC
  • Coordinate with each other.

For 2024-2026, the EDSC will have five Working Groups focused on data sources:

  • Administrative data and Education Management Information Systems (EMIS)
  • Education expenditure data
  • Household survey data
  • Learning assessments data / Global Alliance to Monitor Learning or GAML (with indicator-specific task forces)
  • Teachers data.

Other working groups may be set up with the agreement of the EDSC to address specific priorities.

Task Forces will provide expert advice and guidance on specific topics. Task Forces will employ mainly teleconferencing for discussions but the EDSC secretariat will identify opportunities and arrange in-person meetings if needed. They will be dissolved upon completing the deliverables.

For 2024-2026, the EDSC will have two Task Forces:

Administrative data/EMIS Working Group

  • Focuses on maximizing the production and reporting of educational data derived from administrative data sources
  • Will explore innovative approaches in data collection and implement strategies to address data gaps, aiming to increase coverage of SDG 4 indicators while strengthening national Education Management Information Systems
  • Will provide guidance and technical assistance to Member States ensuring coordination among data producers and harmonization of different data sources.

Education Expenditure Data Working Group

  • Focuses on education expenditure data
  • Will work on setting harmonization methods for the two education expenditure benchmark indicators
  • Will work on developing and implementing guidelines to improve the collection of education expenditure data, with a particular focus on household expenditure data
  • Will look into ways to simplify the guidelines and expand the National Education Accounts methodology.

Household Surveys Working Group

  • Focuses on the development of SDG 4 indicators based on data derived from various types of surveys, including population censuses, national household surveys, cross-national household surveys (DHS, MICS), and labour force surveys.
  • Will highlight the opportunities that surveys offer for generating education statistics.
  • Will develop standards and guidelines for processing survey data.

Learning Assessments Working Group/GAML

  • Composed of the Global Alliance to Monitor Learning (GAML), whose goal is to improve learning outcomes by supporting national strategies for learning assessments and developing internationally comparable indicators and methodological tools to measure progress towards key targets of SDG 4
  • Will address the issue of low coverage for indicators 4.1.1, 4.6.1, 4.7.4 and 4.7.5.

Teachers Working Group

  • Focuses on finding solutions to the low coverage and comparability issues hampering the production and reporting of teachers’ data
  • Will concentrate on trained teachers through a dedicated task force to agree on a global definition and produce standards for teacher training programmes
  • Will explore innovative approaches in data collection through the production of guidelines to strengthen the capacity of Member States to report on SDG 4.c indicators.

Technical Advisory Group (TAG) on 4.1.1a

Please visit this page for more information on the Technical Advisory Group (TAG) on SDG indicator 4.1.1a.