Les statistiques de l'éducation de l'unesco: Restructuration et changement politique

Abstract

Criticism of the quality of educational statistics started off the recent restructuring in the department of statistics at UNESCO. This criticism, essentially led by the World Bank and confirmed by consultants hired by the organization, turns out not to be entirely founded when put to analysis. In fact, such criticism was used, above all, to support an institutional and political change. Not only was the department of statistics relocated to Canada, but a change in its mission was also strongly recommended for the production of statistics. It was considered that measuring the performance of educational systems would be more relevant than measuring state educational systems. The restructuring also highlighted a general trend: the weakening of any policy debate within the General Conference. Indeed, the meaning UNESCO believes should be given to the statistics and their social and political interpretation, were not even discussed. Finally, the restructuring process can also be related to the decline in UNESCO's leadership in the domain: other international agencies produce equally good and reliable recommendations on education.