Measuring the Quality of Education

Tracking the quality of education is complicated by a lack of objective and consistent measures of how much children learn at school. Data from national examinations are often undermined by the practice of adjusting scores to meet pass rates and by concerns over cheating. International comparative tests are more reliable but cost limits them to small sample studies. Literacy rates provide an essentially historical picture of how much adults learned when they were children.

The assessment of quality is therefore usually based on proxy indicators. The proportion of qualified teachers has an influence on quality and is one of the most common proxy indicators. Completion rates have also been found to be closely correlated with quality since children are more willing to stay at school if they are given a good education.

With relatively low numbers of students progressing to higher levels of education, partner countries need to ensure that each level of schooling is valuable in its own right, in addition to providing a stepping stone to further studies or the workforce. This is particularly important in vocational and technical education where many countries are struggling to transform ineffective training systems.

English language skills are crucial to participation in the international economy. In the Asia-Pacific region, English is the main language of trade and commerce, information communication technologies, higher education and tourism. Many of Australia's partner countries need help in enhancing English language proficiency as part of broader development efforts.

2007