Education Statistical Digest

The publication of this Interactive Digital Digest represents another major stride in the region's efforts to provide timely and accurate data to guide decision-making and research, and to monitor the sector itself. The transition to this new platform provides opportunities which were not previously available. Importantly, there is now a single point of data entry from the individual territories, which significantly reduces the probability of entry errors. This is a significant improvement from the older system, which used multiple points of data entry. In addition, the migration to this platform allows the end user to interrogate the data based on his/her specific area(s) of focus.

This Interactive platform is further enhanced by Artificial Intelligence. Now, users can research larger data volumes across different themes and can therefore obtain a more holistic perspective in a shorter period of time. The platform features various built-in forms for analytics. These are designed to help the user quickly understand the data and trends presented in tabular form. The user experience is further enhanced by various visualisation options, which are easily exportable for custom reports.

Building statistical capacity

Before the publication of this Interactive Digest, OECS Education Statisticians benefited from training with the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) through a bilateral Implementing Partnership Agreement. This collaborative effort provided technical assistance to OECS Education Statisticians to enhance their national and, by extension, regional reporting capacities. Some of the areas reviewed include the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED 2011). The ISCED review allowed participants to update the structure of their respective education systems. Hence, the Education Statisticians were able to share their respective contexts in a more timely manner with UIS. Another area of focus for this collaborative effort was the EMIS Laser mapping. This report provided a synopsis of the datasets captured and the corresponding timelines for data collection across member countries. Training was also conducted on best practices in reporting and data presentation.

A regional EMIS

Our recent experiences with the COVID-19 pandemic, storms and other external events have heightened our appreciation of the need for real-time and accurate data for decision-making. Consequently, as a region, we have sought to redouble our efforts to design, develop and deploy a regional Education Management Information System (EMIS) that serves the individual needs of Member States while providing a basis for regional benchmarking and decision-making. The OECS Regional EMIS Task Force is a critical body tasked with guiding this work, mandated by the Council of Ministers of Education. Through this forum, our statisticians also provide meaningful contributions to the advancement of this initiative.

I am pleased to share this publication with our policy-makers, development partners and colleagues within the Member State Ministries of Education. We express our gratitude to our various partners, such as UNICEF and the UNESCO Institute for Statistics, for their dedicated support. Their efforts have been instrumental in helping us reach yet another milestone. Thank you again to all those who have assisted and continue to support an evidence-based approach in education.