Educational Policy Evaluation and Application of Education Indicators in Developing Countries

Abstract

Given the growing importance of demonstrative data in the process of public policy formulation including educational policies, many countries adopt education indicators in the evaluation of their educational policies. This paper provides an overview of the utilization of various education indicators for the purpose of understanding the educational situation in developing countries and discusses how such indicators are applied in connection with educational development assistance to these countries. The policy-making process in the education sector in developing countries can be all the more complex because it is necessary to analyze the education sector itself, in terms of the implementation of educational policies, levels of student achievement, and educational development aid provided by developed countries (donor countries) and international agencies. In other words, evaluation must concern both the practical efficacy of educational policies in developing countries and the effectiveness of educational development aid to these countries. Although in either type of evaluation, the importance of internationally comparable education indicators is generally understood, education indicators are not necessarily most effectively utilized in actual evaluation. In view of the need to ameliorate this situation, this paper discusses education indicators that have been developed in connection with educational policy-making in developing countries, as well as how they have been, and can be or should be, utilized. Firstly, the paper points out the importance of utilizing education statistics to analyze the educational situations of developing countries and formulate, monitor and evaluate their educational policies. Secondly, the paper provides an overview of a range of indicators that have been developed mainly by international agencies such as UNESCO and OECD thus far for international comparison of education. These indicators include the World Education Indicators and the EFA Indicators, both of which have been widely utilized in order to assess the educational situation of developing countries. The paper also introduces the EFA Development Index, which is adopted for measuring the degree of EFA achievement in respective countries. Thirdly, the EFA FastTrack Initiative (FTI), which is being actively introduced into low-income countries, is taken up as a case of international assistance to developing countries, to examine how educational reforms in developing countries have been actually assessed with the use of education indicators. The paper concludes that evaluation based on education indicators in connection with the international community's assistance to developing countries does not necessarily reflect clearly justifiable criteria as the case of the EFA-FTI shows that further examination is required concerning optimal application of education indicators in consideration of actual situations in developing countries. One major future challenge lies in defining ideal education indicators and their position in understanding the situation of the education sector of respective developing countries as accurately as possible in the evaluation of educational policies from various approaches including the evaluation of EFA-FTI effectiveness. In meeting this challenge, a multifaceted approach and reasoning framework should be established, so as to realize educational policy evaluation that can truly contribute to improving the educational situation in developing countries.