Building Effective and Sustainable Statistical Information Systems in Sub-Saharan Africa - The Challenges
An interview with Kjell Nystrøm
Head of the Education Division
Swedish International Development Agency (Sida)
and Leader of the ADEA Working Group on Education Statistics
and Ko-Chih-Tung
NESIS Coordinator
UNESCO Division of Statistics
“The data we have is not what we want, the data we want is not what we need, the data we need is not available.” This summarizes the situation in many sub-Saharan Africa where few countries can measure changes and patterns in access to education, coverage of education, efficiency of operation, and quality of education, for lack of data on these basic indicators. In the following interview, Kjell Nystrøm and Ko-Chih Tung give an insight of the existing capacities and the problems afflicting the use of statistics in many sub-Saharan countries. The challenges which lie ahead in building effective and sustainable statistical information systems are also outlined. Kjell Nystrøm, Head of the Education Division at the Swedish International Development Agency (Sida), is leader of the ADEA Working Group on Education Statistics (WGES). Ko-Chih Tung, at the UNESCO Division of Statistics, is Coordinator of the National Education Statistical Information Systems (NESIS) program of the WGES.
Question: What are the challenges facing sub-Saharan African countries in developing effective Statistical Information Systems?
Kjell Nystrøm: In the World Bank 1988 study entitled “Policies for Adjustment, Revitalization, and
Expansion” (1), the lack of statistical information and weak analytical capacities were identified as major bottlenecks in the development of education in sub-Saharan Africa.
There are several major challenges facing sub-Saharan countries in developing statistical information systems: establishing effective education statistical information systems (ESIS); that answer the needs of the users; training people to manage and use ESIS efficiently; and, most importantly, getting real political commitment to invest in ESIS and ESIS-related training requirements. The latter point has been greatly neglected in most African countries. While the demand for quantitative information has been growing, investment in information management capacity has virtually stood still. This has led to a widening gap between the supply and the demand of statistical information.
Training is an area that requires much effort. It is one thing to be able to generate statistics. It is another to be able to use these statistics to plan, manage and make decisions. Modern planning techniques and management concepts and methods need to be introduced.
Q.: Have you experienced any change in the political commitment of governments?
K.N.: In the past few years, there has been a growing awareness among governments and development agencies of the importance of ESIS for educational development. African policy-makers are increasingly recognizing that well-managed and responsive statistical information services are essential to viable policy formulation and efficient investments in education. Budgeting processes are reflecting this. On the agency side, some agencies such as the World Bank, UNESCO and Sida have since long supported the development of information systems. However, for most agencies there has been a clear shift in the 1990s. Today, agencies are showing a stronger interest in contributing to the establishment of ESIS, and ESIS-related projects are receiving more financial support.
Q: What problems do users of statistics encounter in sub-Saharan African countries?
K.N.: The problems are numerous. One of the most common complaints in African countries is that statistical reports are available too late to be of any use for education management. Informed decision-making on current issues is not possible with outdated numbers. In Zambia for example, 1983 education statistics were available only in provisional form in 1994. Since then, Zambia has launched a NESIS project and statistics were published in 1996, 1994 and 1995 .
Another commonly reported complaint among consumers pertains to the content and scope of statistics. Lack of relevance and comprehensiveness is frequently reported. The bulk of statistics provided by the statistics units often consists of the number of pupils, teachers, and schools. Few other items are provided. Much needed information pertaining to learning achievement, school facilities, teaching materials or adult literacy is rarely available. There are many gaps, even concerning standard primary school statistics. Information on new entrants and enrolments by age, graduates, wastage, repetition, attendance, student performance, and other data to calculate various other educational indicators are not available. This is the very kind of data needed to evaluate educational performance and efficiency against stated objectives. Key financial data such as school expenditure, community contributions and private resources are often missing.
Missing data due to non-collection, late response or various other reasons constitutes another problem. Available data are not necessarily reliable and accurate, even when published.
These are the realities which planners and decision-makers face in sub-Saharan Africa.
Q.: What remains to be done in order for educational planners, managers and decision makers to have access to timely, appropriate, and reliable information?
K-C. T.: Three factors should be given priority: (i) information users need to work very closely with information producers to define the content and form of their information needs; (ii) an analytical framework must be drawn for planning, management, and decision-making in order for data to be transformed into relevant information. Users must specify the type of analysis which is required. Planners need to know what the policy targets are; and (iii) Planners, managers, and decision-makers need to be introduced to modern planning techniques, management concepts and methods.
Q.: How are countries addressing the need to link producers and users of statistics?
K.N.: This is a very important issue at the very basis of the development of an effective ESIS. In most countries, available statistics do not adequately cover the planners’, managers’ and decision makers’ needs. The gap between demand and supply highlights the lack of communication between consumers and producers regarding their mutual needs.
Countries participating in the NESIS program have established a framework for consumer and producer cooperation at the policy and technical levels. At the policy level, the National Advisory Committee is composed of policy level representatives of the consumer and producer departments and agencies. This constitutes an established meeting place where consumers can air their views and express their needs to the producers. At the technical level, the NESIS implementation team—consisting of subject specialists and technical experts from the Ministry, teacher training institutions, universities, technical colleges, etc.—is responsible for solving the problems and implementing the solutions.
Q.: How widespread is the use of computers and computer technology for statistical purposes in sub-Saharan Africa?
K-C. T.: Many statistics units in Africa are equipped with computers. However, most countries have not yet fully harnessed the potential of computers for statistical information services. This is due mainly to financial constraints, the absence of skilled personnel with the necessary know-how, and the lack of appropriate hardware and software.
Many ministries are equipped using foreign assistance funds and foreign expertise. When the project money dries up, technical assistance disappears and the stock of computers is not renewed. As a result, computer hardware is often outdated. This poses a two-fold problem: spare parts are no longer available so machines cannot be repaired; these older machines cannot adequately perform more demanding tasks or run newer software. Furthermore, technicians and maintenance staff are also in very short supply in most of sub-Saharan Africa.
Hence, the NESIS strategy has been to reduce participating countries’ dependency on software requiring much training.
Q.: What challenges has decentralization created for Education Statistics Information Systems?
K-C. T.: Many countries in Africa are decentralizing government functions at provincial, county or district level. Local administrations are playing a greater role and have acquired more responsibilities. Hence, decentralizing information support for decision-making and management has become necessary.
In some countries, the ministry is assisting decentralized units to enable them to carry out their administrative responsibilities. In Ethiopia, decentralization is going down to the school level. Methodologies are being developed to enable schools to to design their own records and produce their statistical profile and indicators of performance. A NESIS module is being developed for principals and school administrators on the use of statistical information at the school level for school planning and management.
Training remains a big challenge. Awareness of the importance of maintaining effective statistical information systems should be increased. Teachers need to be systematically sensitized to ESIS-related issues. Decentralization should not be limited to information access only. There is great need for developing local planning, analytical and decision-making capacities.
(1) Education in Sub-Saharan Africa—Strategies for Adjustment, Revitalization, and Expansion is a World Bank policy study published in 1988. The creation of ADEA—then called Donors to African Education (DAE)—was derived from recommendations formulated in this study.
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