General education quality analysis/diagnosis framework (GEQAF)
Both developed and developing countries are well aware of the quality crisis in global education and its development consequences. The global UNESCO Education For All agenda has also identified quality as requiring attention. UNESCO Member States have therefore overwhelmingly called on the Secretariat to redouble its technical support for their efforts to address the global challenge of equity of education quality and learning effectiveness. Up to now what seems to be lacking are tools for systemic analysis and identification of critical constraints that prevent Member States from attaining and sustaining intended levels and equity of education quality and learning outcomes. In response the UNESCO Secretariat developed a General Education Quality/Diagnostic Framework (GEQAF) that seeks to enable Member States to profoundly analyze/diagnose and identify critical impediments that prevent their general education systems to equitably and sustainably provide high quality education and effective learning experiences to all learners.
CICED became a partner of UNESCO in testing this framework in the CIS countries and organized a training seminar in Moscow on the adaptation and application of the GEQAF. The workshop was aimed at discussing the potential for using GEQAF and adapting it to the regional and country context. The event was attended by representatives of the ministries of education and other state organizations of the CIS countries. At the end of the meeting participants provided their recommendations for the improvement and adaptation of the framework.
Global Alliance to Monitor Learning UNESCO
In 2016 UNESCO launched the Global Alliance to Monitor Learning (GAML). GAML was created to address the problems associated with the development of approaches to monitoring the academic results of students in order to achieve the fourth global Sustainable Development Goal of the United Nations (SDG), which provides for the creation of conditions for comprehensive quality and equal education by 2030. Lack of global information is reflected in slowing progress towards this goal.
GAML’s efforts are aimed at supporting the work of countries in effectively measuring educational outcomes on a national scale. The activities of the Alliance also help build more effective communication between experts, political decision makers, development donors and society. An active exchange of views contributes to the collection of valid and comparable information necessary to develop a strategy to improve educational systems.
More than 250 representatives of the scientific community, international organizations, non-profit organizations, civil society and the private sector are involved in the work of the Alliance. Specialists’ efforts are focused on developing the standards and methodology of the tools and indicators needed to measure the quality of education at the global level.
At the initiative of CICED, Russian experts joined technical group 4.1 (Number of children and young people who have mastered the minimum level of reading and counting) and technical group 4.2 (Number of children under five who have reached an adequate level of development). The work of these groups takes place remotely with periodic face-to-face discussions.
Russian experts presented for discussion on domestic experience of monitoring research and systematization of the research results and gave their recommendations on the formation of final documents.
Inviting experts from Russia to participate in such international projects demonstrates a demand for Russian expertise in the field of education quality assessment.
