A Training Course for the Analysis and Reporting of Data from Education Management Information Systems (EMIS)

Overview Analysing Data: Education Indicators 1 Levels of Education Measuring access to education Measuring the coverage of the school-age population Flow of pupils through the education system

Levels of Education Education indicators depend on the level of education for calculation of measures for: access to the education system coverage of the school-age population flow of students through the education system While the classification of the levels of education vary for different education systems, the level of education has been classified using a standard international classification.

International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED) ISCED is the UNESCO classification for organizing educational programmes and related qualifications by education levels and fields. ISCED is designed to serve as a framework to classify educational activities into internationally agreed categories. ISCED is intended to be internationally valid and comprehensive of the full range of education systems irrespective of the situation in a particular system.

ISCED Levels of Education The ISCED levels of education for early childhood education and formal schooling are: Level 0 - Pre-Primary Education Level 1 - Primary Education Level 2 – Lower-Secondary Education Level 3 – Upper Secondary Education

Use of ISCED in Education Statistics ISCED can be used for compiling statistics on different aspects of education of interest to national policy-makers and international development agencies ISCED can be used to classify: student enrolment and attendance teacher supply and demand financial resources in education educational attainments of the population ISCED can be used to transform national education statistics, compiled on the basis of national concepts and definitions, into aggregate categories that can be compared internationally

Measuring access to education Educational planners are concerned with estimating the number of places that will need to be provided for students at various levels in the education system. In-take rate Access to the first level of education is measured by the proportion of children admitted relative to the total child population eligible for enrolment at that level Transition rate Access to subsequent levels of education is measured by the proportion of children admitted, relative to the number of those who were, the year before, in the final school-year of the preceding level.

In-take rate There are two rates that are commonly used for measuring admission: Gross In-take Rate (GIR) Net In-take Rate (NIR) Both GIR and NIR provide useful insights into admission processes, but NIR is capable of providing more meaningful information Note: Calculation of NIR is dependent on age-related data being available whereas the GIR does not

Gross in-take rate (GIR) GIR identifies the number of children newly admitted to the first year of school as a percentage of children who are entitled to admission The age at which children are supposed to start school is referred to as the legal age of admission. Gross in-take rate (%) = No. of new pupils in Grade 1 —————————————— × 100 Population of admission age

Net in-take rate (NIR) NIR identifies the number of newly admitted children of admission age as a percentage of the total number of children of the same age in the population Net in-take rate (%) = No. of new pupils in Grade 1 of admission age —————————————————— × 100 Population of admission age

Transition rates For pupils in the last year of a given level of education, access to the next level of education can depend on: whether access to the next level of education is automatic students achieving a particular level of performance in certain examinations on the number of places available whether access is subject to regional, ethnic or other quotas

Transition rate The transition rate calculates the number of new pupils entering a given level of education as a percentage of the pupils who were last year at the end of the previous level. Only new pupils entering the next level of education are given consideration; repeaters at this level are not counted Transition rate from primary to secondary education (%) = No. of new pupils in first grade of secondary in year t ————————————————————— × 100 No. of pupils in final grade of primary in year t – 1

Grade Progression rates (GPR) GPR measures the extent of progression from one grade to another The same cohort of pupils should progress to the next grade in the following year, though some will drop-out or repeat grade The original cohort of pupils may change as a result of in or out migration, or moving between districts or regions Grade Progression rate (%) = No. of pupils enrolled in grade in year t ————————————————————— × 100 No. of pupils enrolled in previous grade in year t - 1

Measuring the coverage of the school-age population Governments are concerned to ensure that those students who start studying in a particular level, continue schooling to completion of that level. Enrolment rates indicate the number of children enrolled in education as a proportion of the population of related school age: - gross enrolment rate net enrolment rate age-specific enrolment rate

Gross and Net enrolment rates Gross enrolment rate: is an approximate indicator of enrolment in a particular level (such as primary or secondary education) identifies the number of children in a given level as a proportion of the population of corresponding school age ignores the ages of the children enrolled at that level measures the capacity of the system to admit children of corresponding school age to a specific level of education. Net enrolment rate: provide deeper insight into enrolment patterns takes into account the actual ages of pupils in school depends on relevant age-related data available

Gross enrolment rates (GER) GER is the number of pupils in a given educational level expressed as a percentage of 0f the population of related school age The population of related school age is defined by the legal age of admission to the level in question and by its duration in years. e.g. primary level = age 6-11 Gross enrolment rate (%) = No. of pupils in level of education ————————————— × 100 Population of related school age

Net enrolment rates (NER) NER is the number of pupils in the official age-group enrolled in a given level of education, expressed as a percentage of the total population in that same age-group Net enrolment rate (%) = No. of pupils of enrolment age in level of education ———————————————————— × 100 Population of related school age

Age-specific enrolment rates (ASER) ASER is the percentage of young people of a given age or age group enrolled in the education system, regardless of the level or levels concerned The difference between the ASER and 100 per cent indicates the percentage of young people of a given age group who do not receive any form of education Age-specific enrolment rate (%) = No. of pupils of given age in education ———————————————— × 100 Population of same age

Gender Parity Index (GPI) The Gender Parity Index is the most widely used index for assessing gender differences in enrolment rates. GPI is calculated as the ratio of an indicator’s value for girls divided by that for boys. A value of GPI close to one indicates that parity has been achieved. Gender Parity Index (GPI) = Value of Indicator for Girls (Female) ———————————————— Value of Indicator for Boys (Male)

The flow of pupils through the education system Tracking the flow of pupils through an education system is an important aspect of education planning Planners need to know what has happened to the pupils enrolled in a particular grade in the previous year Pupils may have: been promoted to the next higher grade repeated a grade dropped out or been pushed out of school

Grade repetition and drop out Students may repeat a grade in school due to poor academic performance and/or not meeting the requirements for promotion to the next grade Grade repetition reduces the efficiency of the school and the education system because resources have to be invested for one more school year for each repeater Some people believe grade repetition is positive because it gives each repeater a second chance to learn better Others consider that repetition has negative effects resulting in the increased tendency for children to drop out of school

Repetition and drop-out data Data on repetition and drop-outs can be extracted from individual student records in schools and summarized into a table.

Use of repetition and drop out indicators Minimizing dropout by preventing children from leaving school requires a number of measures to improve the school environment and teaching/learning processes By knowing how many children repeat and drop out of each grade every year, right decisions can be made to adopt appropriate preventive measures to reduce repetition of grades and drop-outs. Remedial measures may be taken to bring those children who have dropped out of school but have not entered or transferred to another school.

Repetition and Drop-out rates The calculation of repetition and drop-out rates by grade is shown below: Percentage of repeaters by grade (%) = No. of pupils repeating grade —————————————— × 100 Total no. of pupils in grade Percentage of drop-outs by grade (%) = No. of pupils dropped-out of grade ———————————————— × 100 Total no. of pupils in grade

Promotion, Repetition, Dropout rates Promotion rate (%) = No. of pupils promoted to grade g + 1 in year t + 1 ———————————————————— × 100 Total number of pupils in grade g in year t Repetition rate (%) = No. of repeaters in grade g in year t + 1 ————————————————— × 100 Total number of pupils in grade g in year t Drop-out rate (%) = No. of students dropping out from grade g in year 1 ————————————————————— × 100 Total number of pupils in grade g in year t

Use of flow rates in planning Promotion, repetition, and dropout rates are the planner’s key instruments in analysing pupil flows from grade-to-grade within an education system. Some typical questions that a planner might ask: At which grade is the repetition (or dropout) rate highest? Is the problem mainly one of high repetition or high dropout? What trends do the promotion, repetition and drop-out rates show ? Can any prediction be made on the basis of these trends? What is the total loss of pupils through dropout? Do boys or girls tend to drop out and repeat more frequently?

Exercise Discuss: How do you classify the levels of education in your country? What indicators does your country use to measure access to education? What indicators does your country use to measure the coverage of the school-age population? What indicators does your country use to measure the flow of students through the education system? In your country, what are the major policy issues regarding access to, coverage of, and flow through the education system?