Methodology of national education accounts

Languages
English, French
Co-publisher
UIS
Year
2016
Pages
68 p.

Online version

About the publication

Data on education expenditure are often incomplete due to the complex nature of finance in the sector and the different ways in which institutions report financial information. Consequently, many countries lack a sustainable education financing data collection, dissemination, and analysis system. To draw a complete picture of education financing in a given country, national statisticians must gather data from various sources. The data are not always compatible in terms of definition and coverage, and are rarely compiled and presented in terms relevant to education policy-makers (for example, by levels of education or by nature of spending). In many cases, such as for household or non-governmental organization (NGO) spending, the data are not compiled. Significant manipulation, relying heavily on estimation methods, is required before they an be used for analysis. The absence of national data results in gaps in international data availability and prevents the effective monitoring of progress towards the Education 2030 framework and Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) number 4, as well as the development of realistic costing exercises, at both national and international levels. The UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), the UNESCO International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP), and IIEP Pôle de Dakar have pooled their expertise to address the issue of financial statistics on education, based on the utilization of national accounts techniques, building on the theoretical framework of satellite accounts.