G LO B A L E D U C AT I O N M O N I TO R I N G R E P O R T 2 0 1 6 SUMMARY island developing states, it is considerably higher. In Saint Lucia, five nationals study abroad for every ten students in the country. Surprisingly, there is no consolidated global evidence on scholarship numbers, let alone recipients’ nationalities or fields of study. Information collected for the GEM Report from 54 government scholarship programmes indicates that some 22,500 scholarships were offered in 2015, corresponding to 1% of the number of mobile students from low and lower middle income countries. A global mechanism for monitoring scholarships is needed to report on indicators such as number of scholarships awarded, number of scholarship years awarded, number of recipients who complete their studies and number of recipients who return home. le Development G nab oal tai 4 us .C S Aid data can give partial information on scholarship programmes. In 2014, US$2.8 billion of aid was allocated to scholarships and imputed student costs. Of this, US$386 million was directed to least developed countries and small island developing states. Teachers TARGET 4.C T here has been dissatisfaction that the SDGs treat teachers as a ‘means of implementation’, which risks underestimating the profession’s fundamental contribution to the provision of good quality education and an enabling learning environment. The formulation of the target is weak, with a limited conception of key teacher issues. The GEM Report addresses the monitoring implications of the more general commitment, expressed in the Education 2030 Framework for Action, to ‘ensure that teachers and educators are empowered, adequately recruited, well-trained, professionally qualified, motivated and supported’. ADEQUATE SUPPLY OF QUALIFIED TEACHERS Overcrowded classrooms remain common in many of the poorest countries, pointing to an inadequate supply of teachers. There are two major challenges in defining a teacher shortage: Statistics on average teacher availability hide substantial inequality within countries, and the quantity of teachers cannot be isolated from quality. Policy-makers have often responded to expanding enrolment and increasing class size by lowering hiring standards. Data are scarce on what the target refers to as the supply of ‘qualified’ teachers, which tends to be understood mainly in terms of academic qualifications. In 2014, on average, 82% of teachers had the minimum qualifications required to teach in pre-primary education, 93% in primary education and 91% in secondary education. 54