The figures or indicators that speak of educational progress in a country are tools that make it possible to measure the effectiveness of its educational system. They are of great importance because they allow us to establish and compare how education works and what consequences it has on the development of each country.
These indicators make it easier to analyze education and its effects or simply find and correct its problems. Of course, the indicators that study the educational progress of a country should be understood only as an instrument.
Source: TSgt Rachel Martinez, via Wikimedia Commons.
Since 1976, the United Nations (UN) has worked with different programs that allow for a common, flexible and international system to analyze the level of development of different nations. Later, in 1989, the UN created a manual to explain the use of indicators in the education sector, which was divided into 13 areas.
The indicators for evaluating the situation of education have varied over time, although the analysis is usually based on four specific groups. Most countries, especially developed ones, have created their own indicators to analyze their progress in educational terms.
Figures or indicators
The Information Center for the Improvement of Learning (CIMA) uses 40 indicators in 26 countries of Latin America and the Caribbean. These data show how education has advanced in the region.
Spain, for example, collaborates with the INES project as a member of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and also created a state system to evaluate the reality of the Spanish educational system.
Among the indicator programs that analyze education at the international level is the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). In this program the context, resources, educational process and results are studied.
Context
It has to do with the general level of education of a demographic group, with economic and social factors, and with the opinions and hopes of the inhabitants of each country.
In the 2018 study, OECD indicators showed that education has been growing in the last decade, but there are still groups with problems. In most countries less than 20% of adults between the ages of 25 and 34 have not completed upper secondary education.
Furthermore, 65% of the female population between the ages of 18 and 24 is inactive. It has been shown that the higher the level of education, the greater the chances of enjoying a better social and economic situation.
The way in which education affects the labor market can be seen in that 81% of adults between 25 and 34 years old who have completed at least upper secondary education have a job.
Among the OECD countries, only 45% of women aged 25 to 34 are employed despite not having completed upper secondary education. This figure reaches 71% in the case of men. The duration and quality of education has a significant impact on the transition between the educational stage and the work stage.
Adults between the ages of 25 and 64 earn 54% more at their jobs if they have a college or post-high school degree than those who only completed upper secondary education.
The difference in salaries is greater in those countries where the number of people who do not have an upper secondary education is greater, as is the case in Brazil, Costa Rica and Mexico. That difference is smaller in countries like the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
Means
These indicators refer to financial resources and human resources. The former talk about the expenditure made on education. They have to do with the GDP of a country, as well as the difference in spending between public institutions and those that are private. On average, OECD countries spend about $ 10,000 a year per student from primary to tertiary education.
In 2015, countries spent around 5% of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on educational institutions. Most of the investment (90%) is made in public institutions. The awareness that has been created about the need to expand and improve access to education translates into a higher investment per student.
Private investment in tertiary education varies by country. Countries like Colombia, Chile, Japan, the United States and the United Kingdom have the highest investments. Another advance can be observed in that more and more students have access to computers or new technologies in their educational centers.
For its part, human resources refer to the personnel employed, their remuneration and level of training. It also studies the participation in the education of a country.
The cost of teachers is calculated per student and four factors are used. On average, in OECD countries, teachers' salaries range from $ 3,000 in primary education to $ 3,600 in secondary education.
Countries with higher paid teachers tend to have a higher number of students per class.
Processes
The processes speak of teaching time. They basically refer to the time allocated for each subject or activity.
According to cross-country studies of the OECD, the subjects of literature, mathematics and the arts account for 51% of the class time of students in primary education. Students receive more than 7,000 hours of classes during their primary and secondary education. Hungary is the country with the fewest hours and Australia the most.
The average is 15 students per teacher. Classes with fewer students have been shown to be better because they allow teachers to focus more on the individual needs of each student.
Results
The educational indicators measure the effects at the student level, in the education system and at the labor market level. This makes it possible to study the progress of students, the number of graduates by educational level and the training of workers.
In 24 of the 31 OECD countries, the age for entering tertiary education is between 18 and 20 years. The presence of women in doctoral programs has increased by 2.5%. A higher entry into tertiary education implies a more educated workforce.
On the other hand, the fact that more and more high school students graduate, especially in Latin America and the Caribbean, is a good indicator of the growth of education.
References
- Delgado Acosta, M. (2002). Educational indicators. Recovered from ub.edu
- Education - OECD Data. (2019). Recovered from data.oecd.org
- Introduction: The Indicators and their Framework. (2019). Recovered from read.oecd-ilibrary.org
- OECD. (2007). Panorama of education 2007. Paris.
- How to measure educational progress towards 2030? UNESCO study diagnoses data available in Latin America and the Caribbean. (2016). Recovered from es.unesco.org