Priorities for Missing Data and SDG 4 for countries in Africa

• In Event: Conceptualizing and Addressing SDG 4 Data Gaps: Global and Regional Perspectives

Proposal

This presentation for the Africa region focuses primarily on the groups and indicators related to SDG 4.1 (school completion and learning attainment), 4.4 (skill development, especially related to employment and technology), and 4.6 (adult literacy). The SDG monitoring agenda is shining a much-needed light on the need for better development data in Africa, particularly with regards to the situation of young people, a key demographic of the region, but it also creates unnecessary pressure on the already under-resourced capacities of African governments to monitor certain indicators that do not fit their priorities. In the light of this, the presentation will review the most significant missing or under reported data groups as (a) early childhood learners; (b) youth/adult learners; and (c) disaggregation of learners by different types of vulnerability, both in and out of school. These are critical learner groups to both SDG 4 and the African Union’s “Africa We Want” vision and are fundamental to ensuring that all learners access quality learning given these critical learner groups’ alignment with national priorities of low-resourced countries. The most significant data gaps in Africa address the thematic areas of (a) learning assessments (SDG 4.1); (b) relevant skills (SDG 4.4); numeracy and literacy (SDG 4.6); as well as (c) the data gaps on private / non-public / non-formal provision (across multiple SDG indicators). This is not to underrate important discussions related to other targets, subgroups, and broader themes, but rather to highlight priority focus areas that are central to education transformations in countries with limited resources and provide the basis for the regional deliberations addressing Africa’s data challenges in monitoring the SDG 4 agenda. The perspective of lower-income countries has so far been largely absent from global debates on data and urgently needs to be heard. The presentation will end with reflections on gaps in terms of data use by civil society organizations in the region and what can be done to improve the use of education data.

Author

• Angela Jane Arnott, Program4results