The 2015 EFA Global Monitoring Report will provide a definitive assessment of overall progress toward the six EFA goals. The assessment will establish whether the goals were achieved and, if not, whether progress accelerated since 2000.  This blog sums up some of the suggestions made at a recent consultation event in Paris for questions that the next EFA GMR should help answer.

Earlier this month, a meeting was held in Paris on the subject matter of the 2015 EFA GMR, ‘What did we achieve?‘. The meeting took place on the side of the EFA Steering Committee Meeting at UNESCO’s Headquarters. It brought together key representatives from the education community to look at the extended outline for the next Report.

The meeting complemented the online consultation which is still ongoing, and where we encourage all and anyone to share any additional comments they may have for us as we work on the Report.

During the meeting, suggestions and questions mainly focused on the EFA process and the mechanisms that helped bring about progress towards the EFA goals:

–       Overall approach: The GMR should focus on a summative evaluation of EFA especially with respect to the commitments and pledges made in the Dakar Framework for Action. By analysing education developments in this context, the Report will provide vital lessons for working on new global education goals after 2015.

–       Role of certain actors:

• To what extent has civil society influenced education policy and practice since 2000?
• What was the influence of international financial institutions, such as the World Bank and the IMF? What was their influence through the poverty reduction strategy initiative?

–       Governance: The GMR should analyse what the broader role of management and governance reforms have been in advancing EFA. This should include an assessment of the coordination between sub-sectors, accountability initiatives, and evolution in the use of data for planning and policy making.

–       Inter-sectoral links: Education impacts all of development, and cannot be seen as stand-alone from other sectors. As such, the existing links – or lack of links – between sectors should be assessed for their impact on education progress.

–       National perceptions: In assessing the role of EFA, the Report should also cover how EFA goals were perceived by those implementing policy in-country.

–       Data: Is there a need for better data post-2015? Could governments use already available data (such as household surveys) better than they currently do?

–       Emphasis on early childhood education: The next GMR should take a deeper look at the first EFA Goal and ensure that it covers adequately the youngest children.

This consultation is not yet over, and we are still keen to hear more of your thoughts and suggestions. Please comment on the suggestions we have already had on our online consultation, and/or give new guidance for areas of research the EFA GMR team could usefully analyse.