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
F I GURE 1 0:
There are vast differences in tertiary attainment between the poor and the rich
Percentage of 25- to 29-year-olds who have completed at least four years of tertiary education, by wealth, selected countries, 2008–2014
100
90
Richest
80
Poorest
Tertiary education attainment rate (%)
Total
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
Niger
Uganda
C. A. R.
Malawi
Gambia
Congo
Burkina Faso
Burundi
Madagascar
Zambia
Mozambique
Sierra Leone
Liberia
Rwanda
Benin
Chad
Côte d’Ivoire
Togo
Senegal
Mali
Zimbabwe
Cameroon
Lesotho
Comoros
Timor-Leste
Suriname
Guyana
Mauritania
Cambodia
Guatemala
Swaziland
Ethiopia
D. R. Congo
Guinea
Bangladesh
Haiti
Namibia
Honduras
Nigeria
Ghana
Nicaragua
Indonesia
Dominican Rep.
Iraq
Colombia
Peru
Tajikistan
Bosnia/Herzeg.
Bolivia
Pakistan
India
Ecuador
Philippines
China
Egypt
Serbia
Palestine
Mexico
Argentina
Malta
Germany
Hungary
Jordan
Montenegro
Bulgaria
TFYR Macedonian
Rep. Moldova
Mongolia
Armenia
Kazakhstan
Spain
Netherlands
France
Belgium
United Kingdom
Ukraine
0
Source: GEM Report team analysis of household survey data.
Differences in national policy structures and resources, and in university missions, pose considerable barriers to a
meaningful global measure of quality in tertiary education. University rankings attract attention because they are
simple to understand, but they are based on research rather than teaching quality or student learning.
ADULT EDUCATION
Adult learning, education and training opportunities form a strategy for achieving target 4.3, according to the
Education 2030 Framework for Action. Adult education may be formal (institutionalized), non-formal or informal.
The diversity of provision makes monitoring participation particularly difficult. While some information exists on adult
learners in formal education, this is a very small part of the picture. In the 28 European Union countries, about 6% of
adults participated in formal education and 37% in non-formal in 2011, according to a survey that could provide lessons
to develop instruments to measure adult education participation globally.
Assessment of affordability is constrained not only by the greater role of private financing but also by the lack of
information even on public financing. Less than one in six countries spent more than 0.3% of GDP on adult education. Overall,
more information on public expenditure is needed to understand how it is targeted at the groups most in need.
Monitoring adult education, including its quality dimensions, is challenging. The third Global Report on Adult
Learning and Education concluded that data problems exist in all world regions, undermining knowledge of adult
education’s impact. It calls on countries to design systems that address obstacles impeding data gathering for
monitoring and evaluation.
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